








iy~l^€r-. 






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EPHRAIM HOLDING'S 

HOMELY HINTS. 

CHIEFLY ADDKESSED TO 

SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS. 

BY OLD HUMPHREY. 



REVISED BY THOMAS 0. SUMMERS, D.D. 



NasSfctlLe, fRzrtn.: 
POLISHED BY E. STEVENSON & E. A. OWEN, AGENTS, 

FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH. 

3855. 



& 






486555 

AUG 19 U42 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 027666 



HfrttUtatu ^nit. 



This volume is one of a series of books from 
the ready and prolific pen of the late George 
Mbgridge — better known by his nom de plume, 
"Old Humphrey." Most of his works were 
written for the London Religious Tract Society, 
and were originally issued under the auspices of 
that excellent institution. In revising them for 
our catalogue, we have found it necessary to make 
scarcely any alterations. A " Memoir of Old 
Humphrey, with Gleanings from his Portfolio" 
— a charming biography — accompanies our edi- 
tion of his most interesting works. 

Every Sunday-school and Family Library 
should be supplied with the entertaining and use- 
ful productions of Old Humphrey's versatile and 
sanctified genius. 

T. 0. SUMMERS. 

Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 27, 1855. 



CONTENTS 



1. How are you going about it % . , 

2. Do you Learn while you Teach % 

3. Are your Scholars glad to see you 1 

4. Can you bear Reproof? .... 

5. Do you Study the Habits of Young People ? 

6. Do you look Backwards and Forwards 1 . 

7. Are you Prayerful, Hopeful, and Trustful 1 . 

8. Are you Patient and Persevering 1 

9. Do you abhor Deceit 7 

10. Do you turn Passing Occurrences to Advantage 

11. What is your Stock of Information 1 

12. Are you fond of Children % 

13. Can you make Sacrifices'? . . . 

J 4. Do you know that Knowledge is not Wisdom ? 

15. What you Gain do you Retain 1 . 

16. A Sprig of Holly for a Sunday School Teacher. 
Homely Hints to the Aged 

" Mothers. 

" Fathers 

" Sons 

" Daughters. 

" Younger Children. 

" Servants. . . 
On Disappointed Hopes. ., . 
On the Vicissitudes of Life. • 

On the New-made Grave. . . 



Page 

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189 

194 

202 

208 

215 

221 

227 



EPHRAIM HOLDING'S 



HOMELY HINTS. 



i. 

HOW ARE YOU GOING ABOUT IT I 

And have I lived in the world till my hairs are 
grey, without picking up a thought that may be 
useful to a Sunday school teacher % Surely not. 
Have I nothing to say that will lighten his spirit, 
encourage his heart, strengthen his hand, quicken 
his foot, or increase his zeal in the enterprize he 
has undertaken % Oh, yes, I hope so ! If a small 
seed will produce a large tree, a single feather turn 
a scale, and a mere spark kindle a conflagration, 
why should I fear that an old man's words coming 
warm from his heart, will be altogether worthless 1 

Putting it down as an axiom, as I do, that no 
well-meant endeavor to be useful, prudently and 
zealously persevered in, is ever made altogether in 
vain, I feel a confidence which is as a cordial to me, 

1* 



r 



6 HOW ARE YOU GOING ABOUT IT? 

Think not, because time has sprinkled a little snow 
on my head, that I am weak-minded and peevish ; 
but rather give me credit for energy and good tem- 
per, as well as for sincerity and uprightness of in- 
tention. Kindly feelings, one towards another, are 
of great value ; try then to think as favorably of 
me as I think of you : — 

Though his hair may be scattered and grey, 

And the strength of his manhood depart ; 
Though the shadows of thought o'er his temples may stray, 
Yet affection, and zeal, as he wends on his way, 

May be strong in an old man's heart. 

Experience, among many other things, has told 
and taught me this, that in pursuance of the most 
laudable objects, the mind stands in need of an oc- 
casional stimulus ; the affections of the heart require 
to be excited and called forth. A striking example, 
a well-timed reproof, a word of encouragement and 
christian counsel, often impart to us an increased 
zeal, a doubled diligence, and a new principle of 
action. 

If experience has told me this, most likely it has 
taught you something of the same kind, young as 
some of you are in comparison of the years I have 
numbered. There have been times, perhaps, when 
going to and attending your classes, you have felt 
heavy, uninterested, out of spirits, disappointed, and 
ready to say, " What is the use of my being a Sun- 
day school teacher ?" Now it is just in such mo- 
ments as these that I want to step in with my humble 



HOW ARE YOU GOING ABOUT IT ? 7 

hints. When you feel strong ; when your school 
prospers, and your scholars are grateful ; when you 
are listening to some eloquent speech, or reading 
some talented essay, wherein Sunday school teachers 
are spoken well of; when the sun shines on your 
heads and in your hearts, I will trust you for going 
on perseveringly, and very cheerfully leave you to 
yourselves ; but in the dull, dark, dabbling day, and 
in the hour of disappointment and despondency, as 
I said before, willingly would I become your com- 
panion, and, in a kindly spirit, offer a few of my 
homely observations. 

There is, I believe, a general impression in so- 
ciety, that youth and age cannot pleasantly keep 
each other company. Now this appears to me to 
be a_reflection_on them both. It seems to say, that 
young people in their buoyant spirits forget what is 
due to the more sober and quiet habits of age, and 
that old people are not sufficiently considerate and 
forbearing towards their more youthful friends. It 
would certainly be out of the question for youth to 
affect the gravity of age, and still more so for age to 
adopt the light-hearted buoyancy of youth ; yet do 
I feel certain, that young and aged people may 
mingle together with mutual advantage. You 
would not, I trust, desire to trespass on the peaceful 
inclinations of those who are in years ; and I would 
not willingly be a peevish old man, out of temper 
with the cheerful habits of youth, for all the gold 
that is to be found in Mexico. 



8 HOW ARE YOU GOING ABOUT IT? 

Sunday school teachers, however, are not nil 
young, for though some can hardly be said to be out 
of their boyhood, others are much farther advanced 
in years and knowledge, in judgment and christian 
graces. I hope to say something that will commend 
me to all, by a cheerful, kindly, and encouraging 
spirit ; approving with readiness, rebuking with 
tenderness and regret, ever bearing in mind my own 
abundant infirmities, and endeavoring to manifest 
that charity that " suffereth long and is kind, that 
envieth not, vaunteth not itself, is not pufled up, and 
doth not behave itself unseemly, that seeketh not 
her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, 
rejoiceth not in iniquity, but in the truth, beareth all 
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, and 
endureth all things." 

Every lover of nature must be struck with the 
abundant variety that the natural creation presents 
to the eye and the heart. Spring gives way to sum- 
mer, and autumn is succeeded by winter. But not 
the year only, the day and the hour are diversified 
by grateful changes. The sun is now in the east, 
by and by in the south, and afterwards sinks in the 
west. The winds of heaven seldom blow long to- 
gether from the same quarter, and the beautiful 
clouds above us are continually forming new and 
delightful combinations. Hardly shall I be sus- 
pected of an affectation of wisdom, in noticing things 
with which every one is familiar. 

But what is the conclusion to be drawn from the 



HOW ARE YOU GOING ABOUT IT? 9 

variety in nature ? simply this, that change is ne* 
cessary for the well being of creation. An endur- 
ing spring, a continual summer, a perpetual autumn, 
and a never-ending winter, would be anything but 
desirable. Neither the vegetable nor the animal 
world could endure the constant glare of sunshine, 
or thrive beneath continual shade : the wise, the ne- 
cessary, the merciful admixture of the one with the 
other, spreads around a grateful and reviving influ- 
ence : the trees bud, and blossom, and bear ; the 
flowers expand, the fruits ripen ; the bee and the 
butterfly roam abroad ; the bird warbles in the 
brake, or in the air ; man goes forth to his labour, 
and all creation holds a jubilee of joy. 

If it be thus in the natural world, there is some- 
thing very like it in the intellectual, the moral, and 
the religious world : there are changes which are 
necessary, and variety imparts fresh vigour to the 
faculties of our heads, and the affections of our 
hearts. Now, I want the homely hints of Ephraim 
Holding, mingling with the observations of wiser 
and better men, so far to affect you by their novelty, 
that you may reap from them the advantage of a 
change. With this view, it is my intention to lay 
before you such remarks as may appear to me 
likely to effect my purpose. 

As Sunday school teachers, you are of different 
ages, dispositions, and attainments ; but you are all 
alike in this — that you have taken on yourselves to 
comn unicate instruction to a class c£ young people 



10 HOW ARE YOU GOING ABOUT IT? 

who, but for your kindly aid, might have remained 
m comparative ignorance. Your primary object 
is " to give subtilty to the simple ;" to instruct young 
people, so that they may be enabled to read the 
word of God, and to bring them up in the fear of 
the Lord. Now this undertaking, lowly as it may 
be esteemed by some, is a high and honorable en- 
terprise, and the kindly inquiry that I would now 
make is, Hoio are you going about it ? 

There are bad ways of doing good things, and 
good things are all the easier performed if set about 
in a proper spirit and a proper manner, therefore 
my question is worth a little attention. Your ob- 
ject is good, but Mow are you going about it f 
Are you asleep or awake ? Lukewarm or zealous? 
Creeping and crawling, or pressing onwards witk 
energy ? In a word, are you playing at Sunday 
school teaching, or are you in real earnest ? 

I ask not your age, nor what may be your at 
tainments. You may, for years, have pursued youi 
praiseworthy course, or but just entered on your 
work of usefulness. These things at the present 
'moment weigh nothing with me. A soldier is a 
soldier, whether in the ranks, or at the head of 8 
regiment. A sailor is a sailor, whether before the 
mast, or carrying a " red flag at the fore." The 
question is not, what rank have you attained ? but 
in your station and position, are you do'ng youi 
duty % Sabbath after sabbath, by your attendance 
at the Sunday schools, you profess to do good to 



HOW ARE YOU GOING ABOUT IT? 11 

the young people you instruct, and to help them on 
their way to heaven : with this high, this hallowed 
object before you, How are you going about it ? 

In looking around us in the world we shall find 
that in most cases, though not in ail, success has 
been theirs, who have been the most determined to 
attain it. No man ever yet ascended the Pyramids 
in his sleep, or gained the summit of Mont Blanc 
by accident. There must be a spirit of determina- 
tion in every enterprise of difficulty, and my own 
opinion is, that we are never happier than when 
overcoming impediments in a good cause. When 
the motive is equal to the occasion, there is a high- 
wrought pleasure even in endurance. If in becom- 
ing Sunday school teachers, you expected to walk 
smoothly along a gravel walk, or a bowling green ; 
that no difficulties would occur, and that week after 
week you would go on without weariness, diffi- 
culty, or disappointment, no doubt you soon discov- 
ered your mistake ; but how is it with you now? 
With the advantage of your past experience, whe- 
ther it has been long or short, are you as desiious 
to attain your object as you once were? and How 
are you going about it 1 

When the boy runs after a butterfly, he is in real 
earnest, and shows as much determination as 
though his prize was of inestimable value. When 
the sportsman follows the game, impediments only 
increase his ardour, and render him more eager in 
his pursuit ; hedges and ditches, slips and falls, ac- 



12 HOW ARE YOU GOING ABOUT IT? 

cidents and injuries, are of little consequence ; the 
butterfly must be caught, the game must be se- 
cured. The man and the boy are in earnest ; to 
attain their trifling end no effort is withheld. Now, 
if your object is greater, ought your determination 
and perseverance to be less than theirs ? 

How are your classes going on? Do things 
look fresh and green, with a fair promise of a goodly 
harvest ; or is the blade withered, and the ground 
barren, rude, and bare ! Have you done your part 
manfully, prayerfully, and hopefully ? Has the 
earth been well broken up, or have you spared your- 
selves in your labour ? It is hard to get a good 
crop from easy ploughing. 

" With a straight back at the plough tail, 
The weeds will grow and the crop fail !" 

When a thing is undertaken from a deep convic- 
tion that it is a duty, or a praise- worthy object, from 
that moment all our energies of body, soul, and 
spirit, should be pressed into its service. In a case 
of d ^appointment, few things are more mortifying 
than the consciousness that we have brought it on 
ourselves by our supineness and neglect, and few 
things more consolatory than the knowledge that 
we have industriously done our best to secure suc- 
cess. 

In teaching others, we have much to learn our- 
selves ; for a proper mode will effect more in one 
hour 3 than an improper method will in two. It is 



HOW iRE YOU GOING ABOUT IT? IS 

the same in serving others ; for a want of judgment 
will often destroy an act of intended kindness. The 
bear in the fable, offers us a striking illustration of 
this fact. He wished to kill a fly that annoyed a 
sleeping friend, who had done him many acts of 
kindness. The intention of the grateful bear was 
good, but he went about it in an improper manner, 
for in killing the fly with his paw, he demolished 
the face of his benefactor. You see, then, that how- 
ever kind and good your object may be, it is not a 
useless question to ask, How are you going about it ? 

In my younger days, I delighted in plans of ex- 
tended benevolence ; but the worst of it was, that 
they were never realized. My means were not 
commensurate with my desires. My heart was too 
haughty, my eyes too lofty, and I meddled with 
things too high for me. I now see the wisdom, if 
not of undertaking- less, at least of doing 1 more. In- 
dividually, we shall never be able to irrigate the 
sandy deserts of the earth, to clear away its bound- 
less forests, to evangelize the unnumbered heathen, 
or relieve the manifold miseries of mankind, and it 
will be all lost time to attempt it ; but we may on a 
small scale encourage christian benevolence, and 
render ourselves very useful to those around us. 

As plain and homely food is best for the body, so, 
m general, are plain and practical objects best for 
the mind. Ephraim Holding has seen a deal of 
sky-scraping in his time, and has been carried away, 
perhaps, as often as his neighbours, with the glare 

2 



14 HOW ARE YOU GOING ABOUT IT? 

and glitter of imposing spectacles; but when his 
judgment is brought into healthy exercise, he likes 
better things, which have less pretence and more 
utility. He prefers the useful draught-horse drag- 
ging the plough, to the war horse in gorgeous trap- 
pings, crushing out the life of the fallen foe with his 
iron hoofs, and losing his own on the pike or the 
bayonet. He likes better, the evening warbler of 
the woods, and the lark mingling her song to her 
Creator, with the balmy breath of morn, than the 
lonely condor of the Cordillera, whose flight is a 
" voyage," and the soaring eagle of the Alps, whose 
wild scream is lost amid the clouds of heaven. 

There is nothing romantic, extravagant, or be- 
yond the faculties that the Father of Mercies has be- 
stowed upon you, in your desire of teaching young 
people on the Sabbath day, and bringing them up 
in the way in which they should go, with the hum- 
ble hope, that when they grow old, they will not de- 
part from it ; and if the question, How are you go- 
ing about it ? be put honestly to yourselves, it will 
rather assist than retard your enterprise. But what 
you do, do heartily. While you are a Sunday 
school teacher, be in earnest ; for you will as soon 
gather grapes of, thorns, and figs of thistles, as obtain 
satisfaction from duties half performed. If your 
present object be the glory of the Redeemer, and the 
good of your young charge, and you pursue it with 
an humble, patient, peaceful, and persevering spirit, 
success will attend your endeavors ; for if it were 



HOW ARE YOU GOING ABOUT IT 1 .5 

possible for you thereby to benefit none other, you 
must, of necessity, benefit yourselves. 

Though these may be common-place remarks, I 
despair not of making your hearts glow by some of 
my future observations ; in the mean time, while 
you pursue your Sabbath enterprise, neglect not al- 
together my friendly inquiry, How are you going 
about it ? for it may call up useful suggestions in 
your mind. Look upwards as you go onwards in 
your course of christian benevolence, and fear no- 
thing. Ye, shall reap, if ye faint_njot. Though I 
cannot ensure you riches and honors while you live, 
and a marble monument in Westminster Abbey 
when you die, yet will I promise you the approba- 
tion of the wise and good, the delightful peacefulness 
of an approving conscience, and the true respect 
and heartfelt prayers of your old friend Ephraim 
Holding. 



II. 

DO YOU LEARN WHILE YOU TEACH 1 

If you could at all enter into the spirit with which 
I put the question, Do you learn while you teach ? 
you would gladly allow me to catechise you with 
kindness, for I speak to myself while addressing you, 



16 BO YOU LEARN WHILE YOU TEACH? 

It is an humbling thing to feel ignorant when we 
have the credit of being wise, and to lack informa- 
tion while we communicate instruction. Alas ! 
how often do I stand in this unpleasant attitude. 
What would I not give in my age, to have more 
diligently improved my youthful opportunities of 
becoming" wise % 



© 



< 



But thoughts like these are idle now, 
And soothe my spirit never ; 

For time has deeply marked my brow, 
And youth has flown for ever ! 



I have known many people with too little wisdom 
and useful knowledge, but I never met with one 
who had too much. Unsuitable knowledge is not 
useful to its possessor : were a farmer to learn the 
art of ship-building, and a sailor to study agricul- 
ture, it would be throwing time away to attain what 
would be useless. It is when seeking knowledge 
and wisdom suited to our situation here and our 
prospects hereafter, that the injunction of the wise 
man comes with additional weight, " Wisdom is the 
principal thing, therefore get wisdom, and with all 
thy getting get understanding." Prov. iv. 7. 

On a certain occasion a party lost themselves in 
a wood, when one of the company undertook to 
guide them out of it ; this he would no doubt have 
done had he known the way out of it himself, but 
being equally ignorant with his companions, though 
more corndent, he only involved them in greater 



DO YOU LEARN WHILE YOU TEACH? 17 

difficulty by leading them farther and farther into 
the leafy labyrinth. 

In another case, the driver of a stage coach being 
taken ill, one of the passengers, a thoughtless, da- 
ring young man, boldly occupied the place of the 
coachman, but being altogether ignorant of the art 
of driving, he handled the whip and the reins so 
awkwardly, that instead of setting down his fellow- 
travellers at the accustomed inn, he set them down 
half a dozen miles short of it, by overturning them 
on the road, breaking the bones of some, bruising 
others, and terribly alarming them all. 

A year or two ago, a holiday party took an ex- 
cursion up the river Thames, in a boat which had 
a sail to it, on which occasion they unfortunately 
committed themselves to the pilotage of one who 
knew very little about rowing a boat, and still less 
of the management of a sail The consequence of 
this ignorance was, that a sudden gust of wind up- 
set the boat, and several of the party found a watery 
grave. All these instances plainly declare that the 
best intentions in the world, without knowledge, 
are not enough to enable us to attain our ends. The 
guide in the wood, the driver of the coach, and the 
pilot of the boat, all intended to act kindly, yet their 
want of knowledge brought about disappointment, 
affliction, and death. " If the blind lead the blind," 
said the Redeemer, < ; both shall fall into the ditch. ' 
Matt. xv. 14. 

In the days of my youth, young people had not 

2* 



IS DO YOU LEARN WHILE YOU TEACH? 

the advantages they now possess in obtaining- know- 
ledge ; for not only were books of instruction com- 
paratively few and defective, but schoolmasters were, 
in many cases, very ignorant. 

Had my schoolmaster, who kept a village board- 
ing school, been satisfied in giving lessons in read- 
ing, writing, and the earlier rules of arithmetic, he 
might have done justice to those under his care, 
being thus far, but no farther, very well qualified 
as an instructor ; but no, he was of too enterprising 
a spirit to be thus restricted. Vulgar Fractions 
and Decimals, Algebra, Grammar, History, Geog- 
raphy, Astronomy, the use of the Globes, and 
Latin, were only a part of that knowledge he fear- 
lessly undertook to communicate. 

You will wonder how, with so slender a stock 
of attainments, he contrived to keep up a reputation 
for learning and knowledge, for like the school- 
master in the Deserted Village, he was regarded 
as an oracle. 

" While words of learned length and thundering sound, 
Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around ! 
And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew, 
How one small head could carry all he knew." 

The way in which he kept up his credit was 
this : he was quick to discover an error, and w r oe 
was the portion of the poor unhappy urchin who 
committed one. He never attempted to give us in- 
formation, if we required it, but with a frown sent 
us back again, that we might obtain it from our 



DO YOV LEARN WHILE YOU TEACH? 19 

books ; and then he was so fearfully severe, that 
however apparent his ignorance might be, no one 
durst call his knowledge in question. Had it not 
been for the ushers he employed, we should have 
left school with very little addition to our mental 
treasury. 

Occasionally he used to mount his horse to attend 
an establishment for young ladies at a distance of 
some miles, and now and then I accompanied him. 
As he knew very little, you will readily suppose 
that I knew still less. Imagine him, then, up to 
his knees in high-topped boots sitting on his saddle, 
and I, a boy of ten or a dozen years, straddling his 
horse behind him, trotting forward on our hopeful 
enterprize. A pretty pair truly to communicate 
instruction ! 

On one of these occasions, my schoolmaster be- 
ing called away, LJiad tQ-give a lecture on the 
globes, and as well might I have attempted a lec- 
ture on rope-dancing, being about as much at home 
on one subject as on the other. To afford any use- 
ful information to those around me was altogether 
out of the question, all that I attempted was to pre- 
vent their finding out that I knew no more about the 
matter than they did. 

With this object in view, I told them over and 
over again, which was the top of the globe and 
which was the bottom ; explained clearly that the 
latitude was different from the longitude, and the 
longitude different from the latitude. I turned the 



fytM*^ it 



4~ *~\*, X<€*<t4*4_^ 



20 DO YOU LEARN WHILE YOU TEACH? 

globe round and round, and allowed them to turn it 
round too, to gain time, and then I assured them that 
the world was divided into four parts, and that the 
four parts and the four quarters were precisely the 
same thins*. 

In treating on the celestial globe, I was, if possi 
ble, in a still greater difficulty than before, and only 
kept floundering on from one senseless remark to 
another. I told them that the odd forms on the 
globe were not to be seen in the skies, and, that be- 
ing the case, advised them not to look for them, as 
it would be all time thrown away. That stars and 
planets were heavenly bodies, altogether distinct in 
their character, but I did not venture to explain 
wherein one differed from another. After ming-lins* 
together for some time, latitude and longitude, and 
the signs of the Zodiac, stars, planets, and constella- 
tions, in admirable confusion, to my great relief I 
came to a close ; what my pupils thought of my lec- 
ture I never knew ; but for myself, even now, when 
it occurs to my memory, I could hide my face with 
both my hands. Perhaps, on the whole, my young 
friends had no cause to complain, for if I had not 
made them wise, it was from lack of ability, and not 
from want of inclination. If I had not communi- 
cated to them much knowledge, at any rate I had 
given them all that I possessed. 

Now this w r as, to say the best of it, a very lamen- 
table piece of business, and my only reason for al- 
luding to it now, is that you may never by want of 



/ 



DO YOU LEARN WHILE YOU TEACH? 21 

knowledge, be placed in so humiliating a situation. 
Do you feel a desire to be equal to your duties ? 
Do you learn while you teach ? for unless you do, 
your power to benefit others will be very limited. 
A writer, well known for his usefulness among 
Sunday schools, has said to Sunday school teachers, 
" You should prepare the lessons for your children 
before hand. Nothing can be done well without 
taking pains. You should fear to offer to children 
that which costs you nothing. You should be like 
bees continually gathering sweets from every flower 
to bring home honey to the young swarm in your 
Sunday school hives. Seek to gain information, 
and diligently peruse works on education, such as 
the Teachers' Magazine. Take this as a maxim 
which I cannot too powerfully enforce : i He who 
leases to learn, soon becomes unfit to teach. 1 " 

My present object is not to point out to you how 
you are to learn, or what you are to learn, but ra- 
ther to increase your desire to gain information. 
When once you fully resolve to get knowledge, 
you will find that in this as in other things, " where 
there is a will there is a way." Learning without 
a determination to improve, is like winding up a 
watch with a broken main-spring. A kite will not 
fly without wind. A balloon will not rise without 
gas. A hackney coach will not run without horses, 
neither will you ever become wise without a re- 
solution to improve. " Do you learn" then, u while 
you teach ?" 



22 DO YOU LEARN WHILE YOU TEACH? 

It is said that u men are but children of a largei 
growth ;" and it is certain that the wisest man has 
very much to acquire. Instead of regarding schol- 
ars as learners, and teachers as those who have no- 
thing to attain, I rather look on scholars, teachers, 
and superintendents, as only different classes in the 
same Sunday school. All have need to make pro- 
gress in useful knowledge, and especially to learn 
lessons of Him who has said, " Learn of me, for I 
am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest 
unto your souls." Matt. xi. 29. 

The question was once asked, u Where shall we 
find God ?" The reply given was, " Where shall 
we not find Him ?" Something like the same 'ob- 
servation may be made of knowledge, when once 
a thirst to obtain it has taken possession of the 
heart. Ask you where knowledge is to be ac- 
quired % u The heavens declare the glory of God. 
and the firmament sheweth his handy work." 
Psa. xix. 1. " The earth is full of the goodness of 
the Lord," Psa. xxxiii. 5 ; and they who ]ook around 
with a hearty desire to improve, cannot fail to 

" Find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks. 
Sermons in stones, and good in evei^'thing." 

The Bible is within the reach of every hand ; 
libraries are abundant, and fresh sources of informa- 
tion are continually being opened around. The 
difficulty is not in obtaining knowledge, but in mak- 
ing up our minds to become wise. 



DO YOU LEARN WHILE YOU TEACH? 23 

Every Sunday school teacher may rest satisfied, 
however limited his experience and humble his 
qualifications, that if he is in earnest to become use- 
ful to his class, he cannot altogether fail in his ob- 
ject, for he will then gladly avail himself of every 
means to qualify himself for his office. Did Hut- 
ton, a poor homeless, moneyless, friendless lad, 
who was reduced so low as to sleep, for the want of a 
better bed, on a butcher's block in the open street, 
did he become a wise man and an eminent writer % 
Did Ferguson, a poor shepherd boy, without books 
or instructions lay the foundation of his future 
knowledge as a famous astronomer % Did Saun- 
derson and Huber, though blind, led on by a thirst 
of science and a spirit of determination, become 
eminently wise, the latter as a naturalist, and the 
former as a professor of mathematics % and shall 
the lowliest Sunday school teacher, blest with the 
use of all his faculties, and favoured with facilities, 
be discouraged in obtaining knowledge % Never ! 
Never ! I hold it as an axiom, that he who tied 
and bound with a sense of his own deficiencies, 
looks above for heavenly aid, with a heart humble 
enough to feel his own ignorance, and a spirit ar- 
dent enough to pursue after wisdom, 

Who pants for knowledge, labouring to be free, 
And says, c I will be wise 1' wise he will be. 

Again, I ask, " Do you learn while you teach ?" 
For your own comfort, and for the good of your 



24 DO YOU LEARN WHILE YOtf TEACH? 

class, and for the glory of that gracious Redeemer, 
under whose banner you have enrolled yourselves, 
this should be the case. One of the most apostolic 
ministers of the gospel that ever I knew, once ad- 
dressed me after this fashion : (I was then about 
five and twenty, and he somewhat more than three- 
score years and ten :) " How are you in your body, 
soul, and spirit ? Are you humble, and willing 
to learn as you go on your way to heaven ; or, are 
you proud and puffed up, and think that you know 
enough already ? There is plenty to learn. At 
least I find it so. If you are not learning, you are 
cheating yourself of great good, and robbing God 
of his glory. The more you learn of his word 
and will, the better you will be able to serve him ; 
the more you learn of his goodness and grace, the 
better will you love him, and the more gladly will 
you glorify him. Learn, then, every day, and 
all day, and never cease learning till you cease 
living! Learn for yourself! learn for all around 
you ! Learn for life and death ; learn for time and 
eternity." 

As these remarks suited me then, they may pos- 
sibly suit you now, and should they dispose you to 
" learn while you teach" they may do you even 
more good than they did me. 

St. Paul, the great apostle, though brought up at 
the feet^of Gamaliel, highly educated, learned in 
languages and full of faith and christian experience, 



DO YOU T*^N WHILE YOU TEACH? 25 

was a learner all his days. Hear how anxious he 
is for future attainments :— 

" Not as though I had already attained, either 
were already perfect: but I follow after, if that 
[ may apprehend that for which also I am appre- 
hended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not 
myself to have apprehended : but this one thing 
I do, forgetting those things which are behind 
and reaching forth unto those things which are 
before, I press toward the mark for the prize of 
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Phil. 
iii. 13, 14. 

If thus apostles onward press, 
For knowledge, faith, and righteousness, 
Now doubly prompt should we be found, 
To gladly learn of all around. 

I have somewhere met with the remark, that the 
beginning of an address to Sunday scholars should 
be made to fix their attention, the middle of it to in- 
struct their minds, and the end to impress their 
hearts ; and as I hardly think that a better plan than 
this can be laid down in addressing Sunday school 
teachers, I shall endeavour to bear it in my mind. 
Whether my present Homely Hints will either in- 
terest, instruct, or edify, I cannot tell. With a hal- 
lowed influence they may do all three. At any 
rate, I must now bring them to a close, encouraging 
the hope, that as I r yself have often profited by 

3 



26 ARE YOUR SCHOLARS GLAD TO SEE YOU? 

humble productions, your minds also may be moved 
to learn while yoit teach, by my common-place ob- 
servations. 



III. 

ARE YOUR SCHOLARS GLAD TO SEE YOU 1 

I did intend to take for my present heading, the 
question, "Are you glad to see your scholars ?" 
and in many respects it might have suited my pur- 
pose very well ; but, on maturer consideration, af- 
ter pondering the thing in my mind, a more impor- 
tant question occurred to me : instead, therefore, of 
asking you, Are you glad to see your scholars ? I 
will now inquire, Are your scholars glad to see 
you ?" 

But do not hastily suppose, if your scholars are 
glad to see you, that every thing of necessity must 
be going on well, for that is a consequence which 
by no means follows. It would be an easy thing to 
gain the good will of your school by improper 
means, Were a teacher to load his pockets with 
apples, oranges, macaroons, and gingerbread-nuts, 
he would always be a welcome visitor at the 
( school, and his arrival would be hailed with every 
demonstration of joy ; or were he to be imprudently 






ARE YOUR SCHOLARS GLAD TO SEE YOU ? 27 

kind and indulgent in other ways, he might, no 
doubt, enlist the affections of his young friends ; but 
all this might be done without conferring upon 
them one single real and permanent benefit. Out- 
ward signs are often deceitful things : the ruddy glow 
that is the symbol of life in the cheek of health, is 
frequently in the cheek of disease, the hectic har- 
binger of approaching death. Before, then, we 
venture to decide whether the pleasure manifested 
by your scholars on your arrival be a good sign, 
we must know on what account it is that they are 
glad to see you. 

But though I thus speak, it does appear to me to 
be a thing of first rate importance to gain, by 
proper means, the good will, and if possible, the 
warm affections of your scholars. It is much 
easier to hold a boy by his heart than by his ear. 
Let a boy know that you will not deceive him, and 
he will trust you — let him know that you are in 
earnest, and he will not trifle with you — let him 
know that you are consistent, and he will respect 
you — let him know that you are not severe, and he 
will not be afraid of you — and let him know that 
you are considerate and kind-hearted, and he will 
lovejpu. Two persons, it is said, once went to a 
masquerade, the one drest up from head to foot with 
roses, the other stuck all over with stinging-nettles ; 
the consequence might easily have been foreseen. 
Rosyposy was followed wherever he went, every 
one endeavoring to obtain from him a flower ; while 



28 ARE YOUR SCHOLARS GLAD TO SEE YOU ? 

the whole company fled from NettJetop in the 
greatest confusion. To apply this to my present 
purpose, a cheerful and a kind demeanour is a 
flower that is sure to attract young people ; and a 
reserved, churlish, and severe aspect is a stinging- 
nettle which is equally certain to drive them away. 
I am somewhat afraid that after all the plans and 
contrivances which ingenuity has devised to render 
book-learning pleasant to young people, the time 
never will arrive when it will be any other than a 
trouble to them. Pretty books, and pictures, and 
rhymes, and pleasant tales are all very excellent in 
their way. but we must not be out of temper if 
children do not find learning quite so entertaining a 
thing as wo wish to make it ; a pill is a pill to a 
child, even though it be rolled in sugar ; and a 
school book is a school book, in spite of the picture 
m the inside, and the red or blue cover on the out. 
Admitting this to be the true state of the case, it 
will be better to hold out inducements to the young 
mind to overcome a difficulty, than to endeavour to 
persuade it that a difficulty does not exist. If we 
cannot say the hili is not steep, we can at any rate 
speak of the fair prospect which is to be seen from 
the top of it. Whatever impediments there maybe 
in the path of education, the most likely way to 
overcome them — to make the crooked straight, and 
the rough plain, is for the teachers to be orv good 
terms with those they instruct. If a t?aeher he re- 
garded more as an enemv than a friend, the mole 



ARE YOUR SCHOLARS GLAD TO SEE YOU ? 29 

hill will become a mountain, and the streamlet a 
rushing river ; so that it is no unimportant question 
that I ask — " Are your scholars glad to see you f % 

Different kinds of fish are caught with different 
baits ; and nothing can be plainer than the propriety 
of treating children according to their different dis- 
positions : some are bold and callous, others are 
timid and susceptible : — one boy will laugh at a re- 
proof that would almost break another's heart. A 
knowledge of the character is, therefore, essentially 
necessary ; for, without it time will be wasted, and 
effort misdirected. I knew a severe schoolmaster, 
who had so little discrimination, that a boy who 
could not, received the same punishment at his 
hands as the boy who ivould not ; and on one occa- 
sion he lightly reproved a stubborn scholar, while 
he caught one, to whom a word would have been 
sufficient, by the hair of his head, and struck him 
on the ribs with his clenched fists. Such an in- 
structor might compel obedience, but he was not at 
all likely to win the good will or the good opinion 
of his scholars, and whether he was glad or not to 
see them, certain it is that they were never glad to 
see him. 

The poet tells us that it is a 

" Delightful task, to rear the tender thought, 

To teach the young idea how to shoot, 

And pour the fresh instruction o'er the mind !" 

and so it must be to a fond parent, who has suffi* 
cient leisure to attend to the instructions of an affeo 

3* 



30 ARE YOUR SCHOLARS GLAD TO SEE YOU? 

donate child ; but it is quite another thing to go 
through the routine of an extended school, to in- 
struct the often-times wayward children of stran- 
gers. A high tone of benevolence is required to 
make such a path appear a path of roses, and per- 
haps, a still higher sense of duty and christian zeal 
to persevere therein, when it is found to be a path 
of thorns. 

As it is a mark of wisdom to be humble enough 
gladly to pick up a useful hint, however lowly may 
be the source whence it is obtained, so you must 
not despise the homely hints of Ephraim Holding, 
even though they be scattered loosely throughout 
his observations, and at times but slenderly con- 
nected with the subject on which he treats. Give, 
then, a moment's consideration to the following 
points : — 

Amuse your scholars when you can, ever keep- 
ing in view their improvement and real good. As 
a carpenter drives a nail, where he has bored a 
hole with his gimlet, so should you follow up a 
cheerful remark with a lesson of instruction. 

Aim often at the heart ; better foster one good 
affection, than impress two good lessons on the 
memory. A heart is like a house, once get the key 
of it and take possession, and you may put into it 
what furniture you please. 

Never fail to give encouragement to the tracta- 
ble and timid. A well timed word will sometimes 



ARE YOUR SCHOLARS GLAD TO SEE YOL 1 ? 31 

work a wonder. •" A word fitly spoken, is like 
apples of gold in pictures of silver," Prov. xxv. 11. 

Reprove with kindness, but never with levity j 
let it be seen that bad conduct afflicts you. i; You 
droll boy, I am very angry with you," will be a 
bounty for future misconduct. You may as well 
trifle with the cub of a tiger as with a bad propen- 
sity, for when fully grown it will turn again and 
rend you. 

Speak a word now and then, in private, to such 
of your scholars as you wish to impress ; you may 
do more in the way of correction and encourage- 
ment, by this mode, in five minutes, that by an 
hour's public exhortation, 

Draw a wide distinction between a want of talent 
and a want of attention, and try to make your 
scholars draw it too. All the reproof in the world 
will fail to make a feeble boy carry a heavy bur- 
den, or a weak intellect accomplish a difficult task. 

Often look under your own waistcoat, for it will 
tell you what is going on under the waistcoat of an- 
other. Often consider how you felt and reasoned 
when a boy ; it will tell you what are the feelings 
and thoughts of the boys under your care, and this 
knowledge will enable you to act with more com- 
fort to yourself, and advantage to them. 

Learn what you can from those below you, as 
well as from those above you : be not too humble 
to look up, nor too proud to look down, as you may 
lose much that you might otherwise attain. When 



32 ARE YOUR SCHOLARS GLAD TO SEE YOU ? 

a boy goes nutting, he climbs for the brown clus 
ters, but when he goes mushrooming, he stoops to 
the very grovmd. 

I might go on in this way for an hour, scattering 
my homely hints for you to pick up or pass by, ac- 
cording to your inclination ; but in walking through 
the world, we must think of others as well as our- 
selves. That which may be very pleasant to me, 
may be very irksome to you. To offer a few points 
now, and a few another time, may be a much better 
plan, than that of wearying you with a redundance 
of advice. I think, however, that some attention to 
what has fallen from me, will not be time thrown 
away, as it may render you more serviceable to 
your scholars, and also make them more glad to 
see you. 

If it so happens that your scholars are glad to 
see you that their countenances brighten up at your 
approach, that nothing in short can be clearer than 
the fact that you have won their affections, I would 
then just suggest that you should put the question 
to yourselves, How have I contrived to secure their 
good opinion ? You cannot ask this question 
honestly, and reply to it truly, without advantage, 
for the response will either afford you satisfaction, 
or convince you of an error. If you have secured 
the love of your scholars, without compromise of a 
faithful discharge of duty — without losing sight of 
their intellectual improvement and spiritual wel- 
fare, much cause have you fc* joy ; but if, on the 



ARE YOUR SCHOLARS GLAD TO SEE YOL ? 33 

contrary, you have secured their attachment by im- 
prudent concessions and injudicious kindness, nei- 
ther really effectually aiding them in the acquire- 
ment of useful knowledge, nor earnestly helping 
them on their way to heaven, reason enough have 
you for serious reflection. Ephraim Holding has 
made in his time (to his sorrow be it spoken.) as 
many mistakes as his neighbours, and as they never 
imparted to him anything else than vexation and 
regret, so he feels the more anxious to play the 
beacon to his friends, warning them away from evil 
and error. 

But what shall I say if your scholars are not 
glad to see you % This is a bad sign truly ; for 
though it is very possible the fault may be on the 
part of your scholars, it is much more probable 
that it rests with yourselves. Nay, my advice tc 
you in such a case is, to take it for granted, at once, 
that the error is your own, and set about its correc- 
tion in right earnest. So long as a workman loses 
his time in complaining either of his tools, or of 
the materials on which he is employed, he makes 
no progress ; but the moment he is determined to 
do his very best with the one and the other, his 
eyes become brighter and his work becomes lighter. 
If your scholars are not glad to see you, something 
is going on wrong, and the sooner that something 
is discovered the better. Try yourselves on this 
point ; for as I said before, so I say again, as a 
generai rule, Let a boy know that you will not 



34 AJEtE YOUR SCHOLARS GLAD TO SEE YOU? 

deceive him, and he will trust you — let him know 
that you are in earnest, and he will not trifle with 
you — let him know that you are consistent, and he 
will respect you — let him know that you are not 
severe, and he will not be afraid of you — and let 
him know that you are considerate and kindhearted, 
and he will love you. 

As you are so much my juniors, you must allow 
me to point out a common error in young people ; 
it is this — they have frequently a stronger inclina- 
tion to enter on duties which do not belong to them, 
than to discharge thoroughly those which do. I 
have often run into this error in my younger days — 
not contented with doing little things, I have been 
ambitious to effect great ones. In many cases such 
an error is a great obstacle to usefulness. Think 
of this, and remember that you -are not superintend- 
ents, nor ministers, but Sunday school teachers. 
Assume not undue authority ; enter not on duties 
appertaining to others, but in an humble, earnest, 
ardent, prayerful, hopeful spirit, work manfully in 
your vocation, discharging the commonest duty that 
devolves upon you with christian cheerfulness. 
This is the way to obtain your own satisfaction ; 
this is the way to do good to your scholars, and 
a very likely way to make them always glad to 
see you. 

I need not be told that Sunday school teachers 
have their troubles, for who is there that is free 
from them ! In mind, in body, or in estate, we 



ARE YOUR SCHOLARS GLAD TO SEE YOU? 35 

are sure to be tried, for " God is too merciful tc 
leave us without trial." 

"Whate'er our stations, 'all are men, 
Condemned alike to groan ; 
The tender for another's pain 
s The unfeeling for his own.' " 

I need not be told that the cares of your school 
are not your only cares, and that, at times, you 
are unfitted for the efficient discharge of your 
Sabbath duties. You doubtless have your pain- 
ful visitations ; but an armed man escapes many 
a wound that unarmed he would receive. Have 
you put on your armour — your christian panoply ? 

" The darts of anguish fix not where the seat 
Of suffering hath been thoroughly fortified, 
By acquiescence in the will supreme, 
For time and for eternity : — by faith, 
Faith absolute in God, including hope, 
And the defence that lies in boundless love 
Of his perfections ; with habitual, dread 
Of aught unworthily conceived, endured 
Impatiently — ill-done, or left undone, 
To the dishonour of his holy name." 

Clothed with humility, and clad in christina ar- 
mour, you may go forwards fearlessly. Look up- 
wards in every difficulty, keep your eyes on the end, 
and remember you are at work for eternity. When 
the surrounding bustle of busy man has subsided ; 
when the railroads of the earth, and the balloons of 
the air, shall be done away ; when the fleets of the 



36 ARE YOUR SCHOLARS GLAD TO SEE YOU? 

sea, the steam carriages of the land, and all the 
mighty armaments of war shall be no more seen ; 
then will myriads of Sunday School scholars, in- 
structed in righteousness on earth, and brought to 
know Him, whom to know is life eternal, be assem- 
bled around the throne of the High and Holy One. 
There will they rejoice with joy unspeakable, and 
there will they be glad to see their teachers. Such 
a thought is an encouraging one, and strongly con- 
trasts the hollowness of earthly things, compared 
with those that are heavenly. 

" Earthly things 
Are but the transient pageants of an hour : 
And earthly pride is like the passing flower 
That springs to fall, and blossoms but to die." 

When a sportsman wishes to do double execu- 
tion, he puts into his fowling-piece a double charge. 
I am no sportsman, but there can be no harm in my 
profiting by his example. Therefore, though I 
have been hitherto contented with asking you but 
one of my questions, I will now ask you the two 
together. Are you, then, glad to see your scholars t 
and Are your scholars glad to see you ? 



IV. P 

CAN YOU BEAR REPROOF 1 

Think not by my present motto that I am about 
to reprove you, for nothing is more distant from my 
thoughts : a homely hint is all that I have for your 
consideration. You may remember my former re- 
mark, •- It is an humbling thing to feel ignorant 
when we have the credit of being wise, and to lack 
information while we communicate instruction." I 
might have added, also, that it is an ungracious 
thing to inflict reproof on others, when we know 
that we are too impatient to endure it ourselves. 

You will not expect me to take it for granted, 
that all Sunday school teachers are deeply impress- 
ed with religious truth, richly endowed with scrip- 
tural knowledge, filled with christian zeal, and ex- 
emplary in their conduct : no, this I cannot do. If, 
on the one hand, my judgment and affections lead 
me to respect you, and to think and speak well of 
you ; on the other hand, reason, reflection, expe- 
rience, and fidelity, require me to admit that many 
among you stand in need, aye, and in great neeo. 
too, of the kind counsels and christian examples of 
those whose years and experience exceed your own. 
In this thing I must be honest, though I will takt 

4 



38 CAN YOU BEAR REPROOF? 

care neither to be churlish nor unkind. Prepare, 
then, for my question : Can you bear reproof? 

When a doctor takes the medicine he prescribes, 
it is a proof that he really believes it will do his pa- 
tient good ; on this principle it was, that the ques- 
tion about to be put to you, was, half an hour ago, 
put to myself. You shall have an account of what 
took place : I will tell you the result of my com- 
muning with myself, with all openness and sincerity. 

" Hark you," said I, " Mr. Ephraim Holding, 
you are about to seat yourself in your easy chair 
very comfortably, and to put a question to your 
younger friends, the teachers of Sunday schools ; 
now, if it makes no difference to you, perhaps you 
will be good enough first to put the question to your- 
self. Come, let me hear your reply. Can you 
bear reproof? Can you with truth say, — 

" Though much I like the smiling look 

That cheers me on my way, 
Much more I love the just rebuke 

That drives my faults away V 

Can you reply, Yes, to this question?" 
After much pondering on the matter, 1 was 
obliged to confess that I could not. Here, for a 
moment, the affair seemed to be at an end ; but a lit- 
tle farther consideration told me, that my want of 
ability to reply to the inquiry in a satisfactory man 
rier, was the strongest reason in the world why I 
should put it to my young friends, lest they, when 



CAN YOU BEAR REPROOF ? 39 

they came to have grey hairs, should be founo. in 
the same situation. u If I cannot reply, Yes," said 
I, " to the inquiry, Can you bear reproof? the more 
shame for me, and the greater reason there is that 
while my young friends are considering the ques 
tion, I should consider it too." 

To speak the truth, it is a trouble to me that i 
cannot bear reproof so meekly as I could wish : 
not that I fall into a passion, or give peevish and 
bitter replies, or even show by my looks that I am 
displeased, for that would be worse than bad ; yet 
still there is some degree of restlessness, impatience, 
and quickness of feeling in my heart when I am re- 
proved. The praise that may do me evil is more 
welcome than the reproof that may do me good. 
Now this is not consistent with a hearty desire to 
receive and profit by the admonitions of my friends. 

He that instructs should stand aloof 

From selfish love of praise ; — 
He that reproves should bear reproof. 

And ponder well his ways. 

I am the more anxious that you should be able 
to endure reproof, because some experience with the 
world has convinced me that this endurance is a 
very rare quality, and not easily to be attained 
There are those who can bear losses and crosses, , — 
heavy trials and severe afflictions, summer's heat-/^-*- 4 - 
and winter's cold, better than they can bear reproof: 
this is, however, no mark of discretion, for "a re- 



40 CAN YOU BEAR REPROOF ? 

proof entereth more into a wise man than a hundred 
stripes into a fool." Prov. xvii. 10. If there are 
comparatively but few who can bear reproof, we 
ought, as far as possible, to increase their number. 

A Sunday school teacher is a wholesale dealer 
in reproof, for twenty times a day he has to reprove 
those who are under his care ; if, therefore, he can- 
not bear himself what he inflicts on others, he must 
continually endure his own reproach. Put in prac- 
tice, then, every virtue and christian grace that you 
desire to see in those you instruct, for this will be 
the way to add to your own peace and comfort, and 
to set them a good example ; let your scholars find 
in you that which calls forth their respect, and you 
will be the more likely to benefit them by your in- 
structions. 

A few days ago, I stood for some time to observe 
a long-tailed colt under the care of a jockey. The 
mettlesome young creature had not been broken in, 
and he scorned the restraint of the bit and bridle ; 
he would have his own way, and oh ! what lashes 
that way cost him. Sometimes he pranced and 
reared, and at other times he kicked and plunged ; 
but it was spending his strength in vain, for the 
jockey had put a strong curb in his mouth, bridling 
down his proud neck till his snorting nostrils almost 
touched his breast ; and with a long-thonged whip 
he lashed him round a circle, till the impatient and 
distressed animal was so covered with foam and per- 
spiration, that he had not a dry hair on his body. 



CAN YOU BEAR REPROOF? 41 

This very day the young colt passed ly with the 
jockey on his back. That which was difficult to 
him has become easy ; his kicking and plunging 
is all over, for he obeys the bit and bridle, and walks 
round the circle, or along the road, with the meek 
ness of a lamb, without receiving* a single lash from 
the jockey. This young colt is a lively image 
of one wilful in his disposition, before and after he 
can bear reproof. At first, proud, impatient, restless, 
and wilful ; afterwards, humble, enduring, quiet, 
and submissive. 

Say what you will, it is an excellent thing to be 
able to bear reproof; may I, then, frankly and freely 
press on your consideration the propriety of your 
meekly enduring the reproof of those who are 
older than you, and who have had more experience : 
the reproof of your own consciences, which ought 
never to be disregarded, and the reproof of God's 
holy word, which should ever be highly estimated. 
The wise man says, u As an ear-ring of gold, and 
an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover 
upon an obedient ear." Prov. xxv. 12. And the 
royal Psalmist says, * Let the righteous smite me : 
it shall be a kindness : and let him reprove me ; it 
shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my 
head." Ps. cxli. 5. 

We old men are fond of contrasting the present 
with the past ; and sometimes you would almost 
gather, from our too partial observations, that w r e 
really suppose the grass of the field to have been 

4* 



42 CAN YOU BEAR REPROOF ? 

much greener, and the sun in the firmament a greai 
deal brighter, when we were young, than they are 
now: of this, however, I feel very sure, that three- 
score years ago it was as bad a thing not to be able 
to bear reproof as it is at this present time. 

You may, perhaps, remember that my last ad- 
dress contained the following remark : " I knew a 
severe schoolmaster who had so little discrimination, 
that a boy who could not, received the same punish- 
ment as the boy who would not ; and on one oc- 
casion he lightly reproved a stubborn scholar, while 
he caught one, to whom a word would have been 
sufficient, by the hair of his head, and struck him 
on the ribs with his clenched fist :" now the poor 
culprit here alluded to, was no other than he who 
is now addressing you ; it was Ephraim Holding 
who received this harsh chastisement at the hands 
of his severe instructor. 

It would have been well for me had I borne with 
patience this unmerited severity ; but, alas ! I could 
not bear reproof: the sparks of anger were kindled 
in my heart, and my officious schoolfellows, instead 
of extinguishing them, fanned them into a confla- 
gration. I ran away from school, and thereby, not 
only afflicted my parents and friends, but also 
brought on myself a train of evils, much more dif- 
ficult to endure than the heavy hand of my passion- 
ate schoolmaster. Though so many years have 
passed since this event took place, I feel something 
very like shame when it occurs to my remembrance. 



CAN YOU BEAR REPROOF? 43 

But it is not just and merited reproof alone that 
you should be able to endure ; but that, also, which 
is neither merited nor just. You can hardly expect 
to pass through the world, without, in many cases, 
your motives being misunderstood, and your actions 
being misrepresented. How striking and full of in- 
struction is the exhortation of the apostle, < : For 
what glory, is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your 
faults, ye shall take it patiently 1 but if, when ye 
do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is 
acceptable with God." 1 Peter ii. 20. And what 
a beautiful illustration of meekness is offered in the 
person of the Redeemer, u Who did no sin, neither 
was guile found in his mouth ; who when he was 
reviled, reviled not again ; when he suffered, he 
threatened not ; but committed himself to Him that 
judgeth righteously : who his own self bare our 
sips in his own body on the tree, that we, being 
dead to sins, should live unto righteousness." 1 Pet. 
ii. 22—24. 

He who is up in arms on every occasion to jus- 
tify himself, and avenge the slightest trespass on his 
reputation, "jealous in honour, sudden and quick in 
quarrel," is like the oak, which, in defying the 
norm, is torn up by its roots from the ground ; 
while he who can bear reproof, and meekly endure 
injuries, resembles the bending willow, that lifts up 
its head when the tempest has passed by. A little 
meekness is worth more than a great deal of indigo 
nation. 



44 CAN YOU BEAR, REPROOF? 

I remember being present in a court of justice, 
when the magistrate very sharply rebuked a poor 
man, one of the witnesses in the cause that was be- 
ing tried ; the magistrate was angry, and his re- 
marks were severe and unjust, but the poor man had 
learnt to bear reproof, and he uttered not a word 
in reply. Some time after the witnesses had left the 
court, it became apparent to the magistrate that he 
had been in error ; he immediately recalled the 
poor man, and thus addressed him : " Witness, I 
find that you were in the right, and I in the wrong ; 
T was hasty when I spoke to you, 'and did you an 
injustice, I am sorry for it, and beg your pardon.' 7 
There are many who would think that the magis- 
trate condescended too much, and acted unwisely, 
but I think otherwise ; a public injury requires a 
public reparation. Not willingly would I lower the 
character of any one in authority ; but give me a 
magistrate w T ho will publicly beg pardon of a poor 
man whom he has publicly injured. 

You see how, in my rambling w T ay, I endeavour 
to impress your minds with the advantage of being 
able to bear reproof; but if, instead of my putting 
to you the question at the head of this address, you 
can be prevailed on to put it to yourselves, the advan- 
tage will be much greater. One word from your- 
selves will be worth twenty from me. Nothing 
like communing with your own hearts ! 

Who ponders books and studies man, 
Grows slowly wise by rule ; 



CAN YOU BEAR REPROOF? 45 

But he who communes with his heart, 
Can never be a fool. 

Some years ago, I knew a man who was very 
passionate, unaccustomed to restraint, and altogether 
unable to bear reproof. One day, when I was pre- 
sent, he quarrelled with his son, who had all the 
faults of his father, and told him that he Avouldhave 
no hectoring, domineering blades in his house : this 
was a reproof that the son could not and would not 
bear ; so, smiting the table with his fist, and declar- 
ing that he would not stop at home to be tyrannised 
over by his father, he angrily left the house, violent- 
ly closing the door after him. 

No sooner had he departed, than his mother 
began to rebuke her husband, asking him if he was 
not ashamed to reprove his son so sharply for a 
fault in which he was outdone by his father ? iC You 
know, John," said she, " that I have had ten times 
more trouble with you and your hasty temper, than 
you have ever had with your son." Jumping up 
from his chair, the husband declared that no wife 
in the world should lecture him ; that he would say 
what he liked, and do what he liked, and fall into 
a passion when he pleased, without being controlled 
by her or by anybody. Hateful as this scene was 
to witness, it was no more than an every day affair, 
for father, mother, and son, were all unable to bear 
'reproof: from morning to night, discord and dis- 
order prevailed, and one outbreak of anger was 
quickly succeeded by another. 



46 DO YOU STUDY THE 

Now, seeing the ill effects of not being able to 
control the temper, or to bear reproof in after life, 
what an important charge is that of the education 
of children, and how necessary it is that those who 
undertake it should be thoroughly furnished, to ex- 
hibit in spirit, principle and practice, that christian 
meekness, forbearance, and endurance of reproof, 
which, with God's grace, they hope to instil into 
the hearts of those they instruct. Sunday school 
teachers should be models of meekness, patterns of 
piety, and abounding always in " every good word 
and work." 



V. 



DO YOU STUDY THE HABITS OF YOUNG 
PEOPLE 1 

I think it necessary to explain, that in my home- 
ly hints, I have not laid down a regular plan, to 
work out, by systematic steps, some great design. 
No, my object is a more humble one. I leave to 
wiser heads than mine, the great business of im- 
parting enlarged and systematic education, while I, 
from time to time simply take up such a motto as 
may occur to me, and work it up in the way that 
appears the most likely to interest and instruct you. 



HABITS OF YOUNG PEOPLE? 47 

The hints which I lirow out at one time, do not of 
necessity follow those which precede them. 
Though the address, " Can you bear reproof?" 
happens to have been written before the present one, 
it may be read after it without disadvantage. 

When soldiers besiege a fortress, they proceed 
systematically, investing the place, and cutting 
trenches or ditches, whereby, while they defend 
themselves from the enemy, they gradually ap- 
proach the fortress ; what is called the first parallel 
is formed, then the second, and afterwards the 
third ; the covered way is seized, the moat crossed, 
and possession taken of the works, one after an- 
other, till the citadel itself is conquered. 

Now all these actions must be performed in reg- 
ular order ; the first must, of necessity, take place 
before the second, and the second before the third ; 
the place must be invested before the trenches are 
dug, and the walls must be won before the citadel 
can be taken. It is the same with education ; the 
rudiments must be mastered before higher attain- 
ments can be made. Any attempt to teach a child 
to read before he could spell, or spell before he had 
been taught his letters, would be throwing time 
away ; but, as I said before, my simple object does 
not require me to adopt any systematic arrange- 
ment. 

The humble hint that I now propose to impart, 
is the propriety of your paying some attention to 
the temper and disposition of those you instruct. It 



48 DO YOL STUDY T _ 

is not enough to see that your scholars are at school 
in proper time, that their dress is neat, and that their 
hands and faces are clean: it is not sufficient that 
you hear them repeat what they have committed to 
memory, and instruct them to read and spell ; for 
though punctuality, neatness, and an ability to read 
and recite, are good things, yet are they but the 
stepping stones to those that are better. If you 
would do all the good that lies in your power, you 
must, among other things, study the habits of chil- 
dren, by calling to mind what you remember of 
yourselves, and observing all you can in the young 
people around you. A knowledge of the habits of 
thinking, of the likes and dislikes, and of the pre- 
judices and inclinations of children, will greatly as- 
sist you, and strengthen your hands in the benevo 
lent enterprise you have undertaken. 

Let us for a moment take a glance at young peo- 
ple, and at those things which are most apparent in 
their disposition and character, from the child in 
arms to the school-boy. u The infant in arms 
makes known its desire for fresh air by restless- 
ness ; it cries, for it cannot speak its wants : it is 
taken abroad, and then it is quiet. 

" Ail children love to go into the open air ; they 
prefer the grass to the footpath, and to wander, in- 
stead of walking where they are bidden ; l when,' 
say they, ' shall we get into the open fields V 

They seek after some new thing, and convert 
what they find to their own use. A stick placed 



HABl 3 OF YOUNG PEOPLE? 49 

between the legs, makes a horse ; a wisp of straw, 
or a stone drawn along at the end of a string, is 
a cart. On the sides of banks and in green lanes, 
they see the daily issues from the great treasury of 
the earth — opening buds, new flowers, and surpris- 
ing insects. They come home laden with unheard- 
of curiosities, wonderful rarities of their new-found 
w r orld, and tell of their being met by ladies whom 
they admired, and who spoke to them." 

While these things are going on, a love of imi- 
tation is apparent. One does what another does, 
and desires to have what another has. Boys are 
much taken up with whips, balls, tops, hoops, and 
kites ; and girls are equally occupied with dolls, 
toys, battledores, shuttlecocks, and skipping ropes ; 
while a love of dress is observable in both. There 
is a striving in young people to get their own way ; 
a wilfulness, that, if not watched over and pru- 
dently controlled, would bring them into much trou : 
ble ; a disinclination to school,, and a love of holi- 
day, that is apt to make them inattentive to their 
learning. Young people prefer playthings to 
books, and will, when a volume is set before them, 
dwell on the pictures longer than on the print ; 
they prefer a fable to the moral at the end of it, and 
a droll story or marvellous relation to a wise and 
serious remark. A love of rambling and of see- 
ing sights, especially of natural scenery, is observ- 
able ; mountains, rivers, and trees, the rising and 

5 



50 DO YOU STUDY THE 

setting sun, and the ever-changing clouds of 
heaven. 

Besides all these things, and a hundred others, 
they have evil passions at work in their hearts, co- 
veting what others possess, envying such as are 
better off than themselves, and hating those whom 
they think have injured them. The more you 
know of the hearts and dispositions of the children 
under your care, the more easily will you excite 
them to good, and deter them from evil. 

Now, if you reflect on the matter, you will find 
that man obtains his ascendancy over the lower 
creatures of creation, greatly by a knowledge of 
their nature and habits. He knows that small birds 
are fond of seed and crumbs of bread ; so with 
crumbs of bread or seed, he decoys them into his 
snares. He knows that they are frightened at hu- 
man beings, and at unusual sights and sounds ; so, 
that putting up a scarecrow like a man, and a 
whirling rattle, he frights them from the gardens 
and the fields. He knows that the lion is too strong 
to be struggled with, and the antelope too swift to 
be overtaken by him ; so he attacks them with pow- 
der and ball, and thereby subdues them both. He 
finds out the food that different fishes eat, and, 
baiting his hooks accordingly, easily takes them 
from the water. 

Without a knowledge of the habits of these crea- 
tures, man might use his powers in vain ; if he 
spreads crumbs of bread and seed before the lion. 



HABITS OF YOUNG PEOPLE ? 5 x 

or baited a hook for the birds, or levelled his gun 
at the fish in the water, he would meet with little 
success. I hope that I make myself intelligible to 
you, and that you see clearly, that if it be necessary 
to possess a knowledge of the habits of these crea- 
tures to enable man to subject them to his purposes, 
it is equally necessary to be acquainted with the 
habits and dispositions of children, to be enabled 
properly to instruct them. I have before said, and 
now I repeat it again, ;: nothing can be plainer 
than the propriety of treating children according to 
their dispositions. Some are bold and callous, 
others are timid and susceptible ; one boy will 
laugh at. a reproof which would almost break the 
heart of another." 

It is true that as we have all been young, so we 
all know something of the habits of children ; but 
as every year removes us farther from childhood, 
giving us new emotions and fresh objects, we are 
apt to lose sight of what we once knew. Take for 
instance the childish tales which in earlier days we 
may have wondered and wept over ; they will now 
neither excite our wonder, nor call forth our tears. 
Each of us may say of them, 

" I hear them told to children still, 
But fear numbs not my spirit's chill ; 
I still see faces pale with dread, 
While mine could laugh at what is said ; 
See tears imagined woes supply, 
While mine with real cares *re dry. 



52 DO YOU STUDY THE 

Where are they gone 1 The joys and fears 
The links, the life of other years ! 
I thought they twined around my heart, 
So close, that we could never part ; 
But reason, like a Winter's day, 
Nipped childhood's visions all away, 
Nor left behind one withering flower. 
To cherish in a lonely hour." 

Among all the trifling and absolute childish 
ness that, at times, may be found in mankind, yet 
with regard to our habits and feelings generally, 
the apostle'c description is strikingly correct : 
" When I was a child, I spake as a child, I under- 
stood as a child, I thought as a child : but when I 
became a man, I put away childish things..' 1 Cor. 
xii. 11. 

Study, then, the habits of the young ; and re- 
flect when you take a glance at your assembled 
classes, that the advantages of a virtuous life with 
heaven in prospect are so infinitely desirable, and 
the wretchedness of a vicious course ending in 
eternal woe, so immeasurably fearful, that no pains 
can be too great to secure for those under your 
care the one, and to enable them to escape the 
other. Where evil grows, spare it not ; cast it 
out root and branch, still remembering that love 
which worketh most effectually in restraining evil 
and in doing good : and where you discover the 
seeds of piety, foster them with care, for with God's 
he]p, they shall spring up to be trees in the para- 
dise above. 



HABITS OF YOUNG PEOPLE? 53 

I want you to think highly of the work you 
have in hand ; to be in love with it, and to task 
your powers to the utmost in bringing" it to perfec- 
tion. Sleep not at your post of christian love and 
duty j slumber not in directing young pilgrims the 
way to heaven. Look on your scholars with af- 
fection, be diligent in teaching them, study their dis- 
positions, bear with them, be faithful to them, watch 
over them, pray for them, and fail not to seek for 
yourselves that Almighty aid and heavenly grace, 
which can alone enable you to do for them all that 
you have undertaken. 

A few hundred years ago, Rubens, and Raphael, 
and Michael Angelo were at work with their 
brushes painting those pictures which now call 
forth the admiration of the world ; and more than 
a thousand years have passed by, since Phidias 
and Praxiteles produced, with their chisels, those 
beautiful productions, of " breathing marble," which 
have gained them the universal applause of poster- 
ity. Rubens, Raphael, and Angelo, Phidias and 
Praxiteles, considered their works to be important, 
and all their faculties were taxed to bring them 
as near as possible to perfection : — they looked 
With pride to the ll immortality of earth and time ;" 
but your works are intended for heaven and eter- 
nity. When the chiselled marble of the sculptor 
shall have crumbled into dust, and the coloured 
canvass of the painter u shrunk as a shrivelled 
scroll " these " little children" — these Sunday schc- 

5* 



54 DO YOU LOOK 

lars of yours, will, we trust, be before the throne 
of the Eternal, chanting- their hosannas, and sing- 
ing the new song, " Worthy is the Lamb that was 
slain." 

It may be, that these unconnected, but warm- 
hearted remarks— these humble, but well intended 
hints of Ephraim Holding, may set you thinking 
more of the high position you occupy as husband- 
men in the vineyard of the Holy One. Oh, that 
your grapes may appear in goodly clusters, and 
your vintage prove abundant ! What a source of 
comfort ! What a tower of strength to an humble- 
minded and zealous Sunday school teacher, in the 
midst of all his difficulties and disappointments, are 
the words of the Redeemer, " Suffer little children 
to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is 
the kingdom of heaven." 



VI. 

DO YOU LOOK BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS'* 

To turn back, after having set out on a praise- 
worthy enterprise, or even to look back in doubt, 
hesitation, and despondency is not a creditable thing 
to any one. 



BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS? 55 

" Think well before you pursue it, 
But when you begin, go through it," 

j§ a much better course of proceeding. When, 
however, I propose the question, " Do you look 
backwards and forwards V in order to induce you 
to do the one and the other, nothing can be farther 
from my thought than the desire that, as Sunday 
school teachers, you should either look backwards 
with despondency, or forwards with presumption. 

There is often so much of profit and encourage- 
ment in looking backwards, and so much of hope 
and grateful anticipation in looking forwards, that I 
should be sorry for you not to secure the advan- 
tages of so prudent a practice. If in gazing on a 
floweret, you look back to the time when you set 
the seed in the earth, and forward to the season 
when you expect it to flourish in all its prime, you 
greatly add to the amount of your satisfaction. And 
if in an enterprise of difficulty, you take a glance 
at the past errors of inexperience, as well as at the 
future probable success of increased ability to be use* 
ful, it will do you good. Whether, then, you re- 
gard your youthful scholars as blossoms which are 
to burst into a fuller bloom, or consider Sunday 
school teaching as an enterprise of a difficult under- 
taking, in either case the advantage of looking back- 
wards and forwards will be equally apparent. 

By looking backwards, the past will be brought 
to bear upon the present. All that you have heard, 
read, or met with, in your experience, will be made 



56 DO YOU LOOK 

serviceable in your career as a Sunday school 
teacher. Thus, should you be tried by a wilful 
and stubborn diposition in a scholar, you may per- 
haps remember, that on a certain occasion a father, 
rinding he could not prevail on his stubborn-hearted 
child to go down on his knees, to ask God to for- 
give him some sin that he had committed — told him, 
that it would never do for things to remain in that 
manner, and that, if he would not pray for forgive- 
ness, he (the father) must pray for him. With that, 
the anxious parent went down on his knees, and 
prayed so earnestly that the child relented : he 
burst into tears, and fell down on his knees beside 
his father This anecdote is full of instruction, for 
it tells us, in the plainest language, that there are 
other modes of conquering a rebellious spirit than 
those of severity. Are you humble enough, if re- 
quired, to put them in practice ? If you meet with 
an undutiful or disobedient scholar, it may be that, 
by looking backwards, you may call to mind the 
instance which once occurred of a kind mother re- 
questing her thoughtless daughter, who was going 
on a visit, to be sure to execute some little commis- 
sion with which she entrusted her. The request 
was neglected, the mother was taken ill, and before 
the daughter returned home, she had breathed her 
last. I am told, that to this day that daughter has 
not forgiven herself, for neglecting the last request 
made to her by her affectionate mother. The rela- 
tion of this circumstance to your class may impress 



BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS? 57 

the minds of some of them, and dispose them, more 
than before, to honour and be obedient to their pa- 
rents. 

If any of your scholars should be dull and back- 
ward through the want of ability, it may be some 
encouragement to you to call to mind, that a little 
boy, commonly regarded as an idiot, once applied 
to be admitted into a Sunday school : deficient as he 
was in intellect, he made up for it by application 
and desire for improvement, so that he not only suc- 
ceeded in obtaining instruction himself, but also was 
made useful in imparting it to others ; living an 
humble, useful, and consistent life, and dying in 
peace, in hope, and in joy, nothing doubting, that 
through the merits of Jesus Christ, he should have 
an abundant entrance into a world of glory. 

Take my advice, my friends, and see if, by look- 
ing backwards, you cannot recollect many instances 
of this sort, that may be made useful to the young 
people committed to your charge. That which has 
been of service to one, may be of service to another ; 
and what occurred years ago, may become, as I be- 
fore said, a blessing at the present hour. A mind 
well stored with interesting anecdotes of the past, 
may frequently apply them with advantage, to amuse, 
interest, instruct, impress, reprove, or encourage 
those around. The advantage of looking back- 
wards, with the intention of profiting by it in sea- 
sons that are to come, is great ; but, perhaps, I shall 



58 DO YOU LOOK 

put this in a plainer point of view by telling you a 
tale. 

Abdallah, the Daring, a cruel and reckless Be- 
douin of the Desert, whose armed band had de- 
spoiled many a caravan of its treasures, and whoso 
very name was terrible, took shelter from a storm 
in the humble cell of Ben Omar, the Anchorite. 
Omar was clad in sackcloth, with his head un 
covered, but Abdallah wore a dress of the finest 
linen, while a costly turban glittering with precious 
stones, the spoil of a plundered merchant, adorned 
his brow. 

The Bedouin robber became thoughtful, for he 
saw that the hermit Omar was happier than he. 
The slave of caprice and passion, he neither knew 
security nor repose — his precious stones glittered on 
an aching brow, and his costly robes covered a dis- 
contented heart. 

" Omar," said Abdallah, u Thou art wise ! I can 
overtake the fleet ostrich ; I can overcome the armed 
caravan, and I know where to find every spring 
of the desert; tell me where I must look to obtain 
wisdom V " Look backwards and forwards" re- 
plied Omar, as the robber chief turned the head of 
his steed towards the sandy wilderness. 

Shrill was the wind as it swept the sandy plam 
and the storm was yet loud, but the voice of Ben 
Omar still sounded in the ears of Abdallah u Look 
backwards and forwards?' were words that were 
graven on his memory. When he hastened on, 



BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS? 59 

they seemed to pursue him, and when he pitched 
his tent, they tabernacled in his heart. He looked 
backwards, and saw youth with injustice, oppression 
and crueity — he looked forwards, and saw age with 
dishonour, remorse, and discontent. The life of a 
robber had now no charms for him, for Abdallah 
th£ Daring was Abdallah the Contrite ; by looking 
backwards and forwards, he became humble and 
wise, the defender of the defenceless, and the friend 
of mankind. 

The benefit of looking backwards is apparent, 
and the advantage of looking forwards is not less 
so. The mariner, who sees at a distance the white 
cliffs of his native land, forgets the storms that have 
arrested his course ; and the benighted traveller 
who descries the distant light of the hospitable 
hearth, has already forgotten the dangers of dark- 
ness. It is a hundred to one if the farmer would 
have energy of purpose enough to manure the 
ground, to break it up with the plough, to tear it 
asunder with the harrows, and to sow it with grain, 
if he saw not in prospect the abundant crop, the 
goodly sheaves, the loaded wagon, and the bulky 
wheat ricks as the reward of his toil. Neither 
mariners nor travellers have more reason for en- 
couragement than Sunday school teachers. Not more 
surely shall the farmer gather in his harvest, than 
you shall gather in yours : " Ye shall reap if ye 
faint not." Go on, then, in your praiseworthy course, 
kindly and steadily, hopefully, prayerfully, and per- 



60 DO YOU LOOK 

severingly, leaving the issue to the Almighty Ruler 
of all events, with simple dependence on his wisdom, 
his goodness, and his power. 

It may be, that you are much better read than I 
am in ancient history, and that you know more than 
I do about the numerous gods worshipped by the 
Greeks and Romans : but should it be otherwise, 
you will not object to my introduction of Janus. This 
heathen deity is represented as having two faces, 
onp looking backwards and the other forwards, to 
intimate his knowledge of the past and the future. 
The festival called Agonalia, kept in honour of him, 
was held in January. Now January has two faces 
as well as Janus ; for it seems at the same time to 
partake of the winter of the old year, and of the 
spring of the new year. I do not want you to wor- 
ship idols, but I have a wish that you should ob- 
tain a christian lesson from a heathenish custom, so 
that, by looking backwards and forwards like Ja- 
nus and January, thereby increasing your experi- 
ence and forethought, you may, as faithful husband- 
men, train up the young vines under your care, 
with more profit to them, and with more pleasure 
to yourselves. 

I love to lay hold of any circumstance in com- 
mon life that helps ine to illustrate aught that I may 
have to describe. A day or two ago, I was talk- 
ing to a sea captain of the dangers of the deep. 
" You had need look about you, captain," said I, 
for you seem to be surrounded with peril." " We 



BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS ? 61 

are/' said he, " but we keep a sharp look out from 
the mast head ; for when all is right to starboard, 
all may be wrong to larboard, and when we have 
no breakers ahead, we may have a privateer astern." 
Sunday school teachers have dangers to guard 
against, as well as advantages to secure, and they 
ought to keep as sharp a look-out as mariners at 
sea. Though they have neither breakers nor pri- 
vateers to contend with, they have other perils. 
Their scholars may be led away by ill example 
and deceitful snares ; or their heads may be well 
informed, while their hearts are unimpressed with 
divine things. Keep a sharp look-out, then. Look 
backwards and forwards, and intercede with earn- 
estness at the throne of mercy, that your little ones 
may be led away from temptation, and delivered 
from all evil. 

I have before alluded to the fact, that many per- 
sons have acted an important part in the affairs of 
the world, who in the days of their youth were 
poor friendless lads that no one cared for, left to 
struggle on by themselves without a helping hand, 
or a word of comfort or encouragement. It has 
often occurred to me, and may have occurred to you, 
when reading of them, what pleasure it would have 
been to have fallen in with them, and to have acted 
a friendly part by them, when they stood in need of 
a friend. Now, how do you know but that the 
poorest lad in your Sunday school, aye. and he who 
has the least to recommend him to your notice, 

6 



62 DO YOU LOOK 

may in future years become rich, liberal, and use- 
ful j and that he may frequently call to mind the 
kindness of his Sunday school teacher, at a time 
when he had hardly any other friend. The very 
thought is enough to stir you up to increased earn- 
estness and kindness, in the service of your Sab- 
bath-day little friends. This suggestion, to look 
backwards to what has been, and forwards to what 
may be, must not be neglected. You must put it 
among the other humble hints of Ephraim Hold- 
ing. Some of them may be but of little value ; 
but, take them altogether, they may not be without 
advantage. 

I hardly know, whether I use a right term in 
calling your scholars Sabbath-day little friends, be- 
cause if you are really interested in their welfare, 
you will regard them as friends on one day as much 
as another. The matter is of very little conse- 
quence, for whatever I call them, and however you 
regard them, they are our younger brethren, the 
heads of future families, heirs of immortality, and 
candidates for heaven. 

If all the kindly thoughts that are felt, and all 
the grateful words that are spoken, by Sunday 
school scholars respecting their teachers could be 
made known, they would no doubt prove an abun- 
dant encouragement to their instructors ; but this can- 
not be the case. We must not, however, suppose that 
these kindly thoughts and grateful expressions do 
not take place, merely because we hear so little of 



BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS ? 63 

them. If experience tells us that we ourselves 
have ever retained a thankful remembrance of 
kindness exercised towards us in our earlier days, 
it is fair to conclude that other hearts are as grate- 
ful as our own. Yes ! yes ! in the midst of the 
waywardness, the wilfulness, the carelessness, and 
apparent ingratitude which meet the eye, there no 
doubt is, in hundreds of instances, a principle of 
thankfulness at work in the heart, a principle that 
no future occurrence will altogether destroy. I 
was once accosted by a young female whom I did 
not know ; in the most grateful manner she re- 
minded me that I had taught her to write when she 
was a child : and I know one with grey hairs on 
his head, who is in the habit of relating the fact, 
that the sum of two pence given to him in a kindly 
spirit in the days of his boyhood, had made a 
deeper impression of thankfulness on his memory, 
than any money transaction which had ever taken 
place in the course of his life. 

But though many motives may influence the 
minds of Sunday school teachers in giving their in- 
structions, the highest of all motives, the glory of 
the Redeemer, should take the lead, followed, as 
next in order, by the desire for the eternal welfare 
of their tender charge. It is, doubtless, a pleasant 
thing to call forth the love and thankfulness of those 
you have benefited; but it is. a yet more desirable 
thing to show your love and gratitude to Him who 
has so abundantly benefited you. To the Lord of 



64 DO YOU LOOK 

life and glory you are indebted for every thing jmi 
possess here, as well as for every hope you havs of 
an hereafter. Think less, then, of the gratitude you 
should receive, than of that you should pay — -less 
of what your scholars owe you, than of what you 
owe the Almighty Giver of every good and perfect 
gift. If, duly impressed with God's goodness, you 
look backwards at your past mercies, and forwards 
to your future inheritance in heaven, you will feel 
constrained to show your love to the Redeemer, by 
acts of kindness to the little ones who call upon his 
name and profess to be his disciples. It is not the 
greatest act of kindness alone that will be accepted 
by him, but the least: " Whosoever shall give to 
drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold 
water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say 
unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward." 
Matt. x. 42. 

You see how I have turned and twined this hum* 
ble hint of looking backwards and forwards, with 
the desire of arresting your attention, and impress 
ing your minds : I had some hope when I began 
of doing it better, but as it is, I have done my best. 
Try if you cannot improve on my imperfect per- 
formance. Your eyes are younger, and no doubt 
stronger than mine ; and if, with God's grace within 
you, you look sharply about you, perhaps you may 
see many things that escape an old man's notice. 
Lose no time, however, for life is uncertain. How 
arrestingly solemn are the words— 



BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS % 6£ 

" Time, like an ever-rolling stream 

Bears all its sons away ; 
They fly, forgotten, as a dream 

Dies at the opening day, 

Like flowery fields the nations stand, 

Pleased with the morniner lio-ht : 
The flowers beneath the mower's hand, 

Lie withering ere 'tis night. 

O God, our hope in ages past, 

Our hope for years to come ; 
Be thou our guard whilst life shall last 

And our eternal home." 



VII. 

ARE YOU PRAYERFUL, HOPEFUL, AND 
TRUSTFUL'? 

If I could hit upon some contrivance that would 
at once remove all your difficulties as Sunday 
school teachers, and so far strengthen your hands^ 
that you might carry on with railroad speed all 
your plans for the good of your scholars — if I 
could enable you, at one and the same time, to 
put all necessary knowledge into their heads, and 
all desirable affections into their hearts, it would 
be to me a most delightful circumstance j but this 
is a state of things neither to be brought about 



6 



66 ARE YOU PRAYERFUL, 

by the humble hints of Ephraim Holding, nor 
by the wisdom and benevolence of wiser and better 
men. 

There has no way been yet discovered of build- 
ing a house, other than that of placing properly 
one brick or one stone at a time : there has no way 
at present been devised to make corn grow in any 
other manner than that of preparing the ground, 
sowing the seed, and waiting for it to spring up and 
ripen day by day a little at a time. But even if 
we could build houses, and make corn grow and 
ripen at once we should still be as incompetent as 
ever to make young people good and wise in any 
other way than that of patiently and perseveringly 
doing our best to instruct them, and waiting trust- 
fully for the blessing of God on our endeavours. 
This being the case, let me ask, Are you prayerful, 
hopeful, and trustful ? 

It is melancholy to think how many deprive 
themselves of comfort, and rob God of his glory, 
by neglecting prayer. If prayer be " to the soul 
what food is to the body," how foolish we must be 
to deprive ourselves of the nourishment and strength 
it imparts. If one of you were to refuse his meals 
he would be thought to be beside himself; why 
then should he not be judged in the same way when 
he neglects his prayers ? 

Depend upon it, my young friends, that a throne 
of grace is the strong-hold of all who fear God ; 
the ever-flowing and inexhaustible fountain of good 



HOPEFUL, AND TRUSTFUL ? 67 

things for time and eternity. If you want peace, 
love, hope, faith, and joy, seek them where you 
will, the throne of grace is the only place where you 
can reasonably hope to find them. You must let 
me dwell a little on this matter, for your sakes and 
for my own. 

^ Prayer, in simple language, is, among christian 
people, the act of asking God, in the Saviour's 
name, to do that for us which we cannot do for our- 
selves ; and if we all had a due sense of the value 
of prayer, in affording us peace, in exciting hope 
and confidence, and in strengthening our hands and 
hearts, there would not be found a prayerless per- 
son from Kent to Cornwall, from Northumberland 
to the Lie of Wight. On ! how often do crooked 
things become straight, and rough places become 
plain, and things seemingly impossible become 
easy, after rising from our knees. If you are 
not prayerful, you may be fit for many avoca- 
tions, but you are not fit to be a Sunday school 
teacher. f 

Think not for a moment that I suppose you 
either rise in the momma- or lie down at riig-hfc, 
without prayer, for I think nothing of the sort ; 
but what I am contending for is a prayerful spirit, 
whereby you may secure all the advantages of 
holding communion with God. We may pray, 
without being prayerful. We may bend our 
knees, without giving up our hearts to God. 
Do you remember, in Pilgrim's Progress, how 



68 ARE YOU PRAYERFUL, 

poor Christian's burden fell from his back when 
he came to the cross 1 If you have any burden 
that prevents your getting forwards as Sunday 
school teachers, take it to a throne of grace, and, 
like poor Pilgrim, you are very likely to leave it 
behind you. 

If with prayer you find difficulties in your path, 
without prayer you will find many more. To 
begin or to attempt to carry on any measure of im- 
portance without imploring God's assistance, is 
very like saying to the High and Holy One, " I 
can do without you." 

Prayer is a blest employ, that throws 
A heavenly balm o'er earthly woes ; 
That spreads a peace through every hour, 
And clothes the weakest arm with power. 

We all of us practise prayer too little ; and I am 
afraid that, if it were possible to ascertain the truth, 
it would be found that there are thousands of prayer- 
less%eople, who, in their several troubles and diffi- 
culties, are always seeking help from those who 
can do little or nothing for them, and never seeking 
it of God, who can do everything. They who 
would stand strong on their legs, should often fall 
down on their knees ; and if you are in earnest in 
your desire rightly to teach those under your care, 
you will diligently seek to be taught yourself by a 
Heavenly Instructor. " Cultivate," says one, " I 
beseech you, the spirit, and copy the example of 



HOPEFUL, AND TRUSTFUL ? 69 

Him, : who went about doing good.' Commune 
much with him in his word, spend much of your 
time at his footstool. So shall you enjoy his 
smiles, and his holy cause shall prosper in your 
hands." 

Are you hopeful % But I feel almost ashamed 
to ask the question. Will any one sow seed that 
he thinks will never spring up? Or set a sapling 
♦without expecting it to grow % This would be out 
of the question ; and quite as much so to undertake 
to teach a class of Sunday scholars without hoping 
to do them good. Yet still there are different de- 
grees of hopefulness, and I want yours to be of the 
highest and brightest kind. 

You have heard, no doubt, the old adage, " If it 
were not for hope the heart would break." There 
is something so encouraging in hopefulness, that we 
should do all in our power to increase it. The eye 
of the hopeful is bright ; the foot of the hopeful is 
nimble ; the hand of the hopeful is strong ; and the 
heart of the hopeful is animated. If, therefore, you 
would have a bright eye, a nimble foot, a strong 
hand, and an animated heart, be hopeful in ail you 
do. Hopefulness is a quality that spreads from one 
to another. You cannot encourage it in yourself 
without calling it up in the minds of your young 
charge. u Let us hope better things." " By and 
by you will no doubt do better;" and u I will be 
bouud for it, that you will soon make fair progress/' 



70 ARE YOU PRAYERFUL, 

are hopeful and encouraging expressions whicl 
you will do well frequently to make use of. 

Be not dependent on the attention or inattention 
the good or the bad conduct, of any particular schj- 
lar, but rather look at the whole class. Surely 
among some of them you will find cause for hope- 
fulness and joy. If you love them, bear with them, 
and go on hoping to the end. Remember your 
hearts are open to God. 

And every thought that passes there, 
Your every wish, and every prayer, 
Is read distinctly by that Eye, 
That pierces through eternity. 

Never suppose for one moment, that in doing 
anything for the glory of God, and the good of his 
creatures, you are labouring alone ; rather take it 
for granted, as a thing certain as the existence of the 
sun, moon, and stars, that the presence of the Holy 
One is w r ith you. He " from w T hom all holy de 
sires, all good counsels, and all just works do pro- 
ceed-;" He, the Lord of the harvest, will strengthen 
the weakest of those who labour in his fields and 
vineyards. Trust in Him confidently, for " he that 
trusteth in the Lord shall never be confounded." 

While I urge on you a trustful spirit, I feel no 
sympathy with that confidence which springs from 
conceit, and a high estimate of attainments and 
ability. On this point let me be understood. It is 
only on the basis of a christian motive and object, a 
diligent application of your powers, and an aniioi 



HOPEFUL, AND TRUSTFUL? 71 

pation of God's blessing, that you can safely rely. 
On this foundation you may rest with implicit con- 
fidence, and on any other confidence will be mis- 
placed. 

I forget the name of the good man, who says, 
" a little faith in active operation will enable a be- 
liever to pass through great troubles," nor do I know 
whether my quotation is quite correct ; but, at all 
events, we may conclude that faith, which is a be- 
lieving, relying, trustful state of mind, is as likely 
to be useful to a Sunday school teacher, as to any 
one else in the world. There are so many little 
discouragements in your way, in making your sev- 
eral classes what you would have them be. that it 
would be well for you to call to mind what mighty 
things faith has done in the world : but time would 
fail to tell of " Gedeon and of Barak, and of Samson, 
and of Jephtha ; of David also, and Samuel, and 
of the prophets : who through faith subdued king- 
doms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, 
stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence 
of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weak- 
ness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, 
turned to flight the armies of the aliens." Heh, 
xi. 32—34. 

The Holy Scriptures are full of instances setting 
forth the advantages of faith ; and Abel, and Enoch, 
and Noah, and Abraham, and Sarah, and Isaac, and 
Jacob, and Moses, may be remembered among them. 
Now and then, too, we meet with cases in common 



72 ARE YOU PRAYERFUL, 

life of a trustful kind, that we ought not to pass by 
disregarded. One of this description has just 
reached me ; and as it is suited to my present pur- 
pose, it shall here be related. 

A married couple, who were in service together 
a long time in the same family, had, by the frugal 
carefulness of many years, saved a few hundred 
pounds. This sum they placed in the hands of their 
master, who soon after came to ruin, so that, all at 
once, they were deprived of their situations, and 
the whole of their property. This was a heavy 
trial, and the husband gave way to despondency ; 
but his wife was trustful, and bore up bravely under 
her afflictions. 

A strong man that is feint-hearted is weak, while 
a weak woman who is trustful is strong. What- 
ever you do, encourage a confidence in God's 
goodness, — 

A sense of His goodness, forgiveness, and love, 
Sheds a sun-beam around us wherever we move; 
Makes the crooked paths straight that occasion our woe, 
And breaks off the points of the thorns as we go. 

The poor woman encouraged her husband to 
employ himself as a gardener, while she took in 
washing, telling him that they should be sure to 
succeed: but though she was trustful herself, she 
could not make her husband so ; his heart sank 
within him j he became indisposed and took to his 
bed. 

Here was a fresh trouble : but the trustful spirit 



HOPEFUL, AND TRUST FUX 1 73 

is not easily broken ; steady to her purpose, the 
poor woman set to work, and though her husband 
was bedridden for years, she supported him through 
all his sickness, and when he died, buried him, 
without asking assistance from any one. A short 
time ago she was herself called away from the 
world, but not before she had, with her own hands, 
paid enough to the undertaker to meet the expenses 
of her funeral ; leaving a striking example how a 
trustful spirit strengthened a weak woman to endure 
trials, and overcome difficulties, which broke a 
strong man's heart. 

If, when you read these remarks, you should 
feel any discouragement in your Sunday school 
efforts to do good, call to mind the steadiness, the 
courage, and the trustfulness of the poor woman 
of whom I have spoken, and be not outdone by 
ner. Be prayerful, be hopeful, and especially be 
trustful. 

Twenty times over have I read that striking ex- 
hortation of the Most High to his servant Joshua, 
when he was about to pass the river Jordan. The 
following words must have been as oil to his joints, 
and marrow to his bones : " Arise, go over this 
Jordan. As I was with Moses, so I will be with 
thee : I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Thou 
shalt have good success. Have not I commanded 
thee % Be strong and of a good courage ; be not 
afraid, neither be thou dismayed : for the Lord thy 
God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." 

7 



74 

We read that Holy Scripture is profitable for 
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction 
in righteousness ;" and often it is abundantly pro- 
fitable in consolation and encouragement. What 
think you, then, of choosing out some encourag- 
ing passage in God's holy word, applying it to 
yourselves with regard to your Sunday school du- 
ties ; such, for instance, as that in the 41st chapter 
of Isaiah : " Fear thou not ; for I am with thee ; 
be not dismayed ; for I am thy God : I will 
strengthen thee : yea, I will help thee ; yea, I will 
uphold thee with the right hand of my righteous- 
ness." 

A crust of bread and a draught of water revives 
the strength of the way-worn traveller : and in like 
manner often a text of scripture refreshes the spirit 
of a heaven-bound pilgrim. Hoping and trusting 
as I do that you are not only on your way to the 
heavenly city, but anxious to help on your scho- 
lars in their way there also, so I have ventured to 
drop the homely hint which I have just given you. 

Though among the many whose pens are occa- 
sionally employed to instruct and encourage you, 
there may be a great diversity of manner and mat- 
ter, yet I trust you will find among them a unity of 
purpose : they are all anxious to do you good, and 
to make you more useful as Sunday school teach- 
ers. One gives y©u a history of education ; a se- 
cond a relation of Sunday schools from their com- 
mencement ; a third points out the best means of cui- 



HOPEFUL, AND TRUSTFUL? 75 

tivating your intellects ; a fourth lays down for you 
practical rules drawn from experience ; a fifth fur- 
nishes you with a list of profitable questions ; a 
sixth exposes the defects, or enumerates the advan- 
tages of Sunday school teaching ; a seventh pre- 
sents you with interesting reminiscences of Sunday 
schools ■ and Ephraim Holding, taking the hum- 
blest path of all, seeks, by his plain and simple 
mottos, and his homely hints, to animate you in 
your philanthropic and christian course. Get good, 
then, if possible, from all these rills of instruction ; 
but especially drink deep at the pure fountain of the 
word of God, with a prayerful, hopeful, and trust- 
ful spirit, and you will be made a blessing to your 
youthful charge. 



VIII. 

ARE YOU PATIENT AND PERSEVERING? 

Did you ever notice an angler, who had been for 
hours standing or sitting under an old tree in a quiet 
nook of the brook, without ever so much as catch- 
ing one fish ? There he stands, and there he will 
stand by the hour, though he may hardly get so 
much as a single nibble to afford him encourage- 
ment ! There comes on a drizzle, and everything 



76 ARE YOU PATIENT AND PERSEVERING? 

around him is dark and uncomfortable ; no mattoi 
— there he stands. The drizzle turns into a shower, 
and he is half drenched to the skin ; but neither the 
drizzle nor the shower drives him from the brook : 
twice has his hair line been entangled among the 
stiff reeds and broken ; three times has his hook 
caught the roots beneath the stream ; and once ha? 
his bait been carried off by the finny tribe, to say 
nothing of his having dropt his fishing-rod, with 
the spiiced-top and bamboo-butt, into the brook ; 
but these accidents he regards not. The very im- 
age of patience, and steady to his purpose, he still 
keeps his tranquil eye fixed on the soft gliding or 
rippling waters. It is not, perhaps, till near the 
close of the day that he succeeds : then, all at once, 
his cork-float is drawn suddenly under the surface 
of the stream, and he pulls out a fish weighing a 
full pound. 

Did you ever stand on a hill ? or under cover of 
a wood 1 or beside a high hedge and deep ditch, when 
the hunters passed near you, engaged in a fox 
chase ? You may not have gazed on such a scene ; 
and therefore I will describe it to you. 

First comes the fox, drenched with water, dab- 
bled and bespattered with dirt, and almost exhausted. 
He has run many miles over the meadows and the 
moor, forced his way through hedges and copses, 
and swam across rivulets, brooks, and ponds. Close 
at his heels, with outstretched neck and eager eyes, 
runs a hound, straining his strength to the utmost 



ARE YOU PATIENT AND PERSEVERING? 7 7 

At a little distance other dogs hold on the hot pur- 
suit, while the distant hills echo back the voice of 
the hounds, the cheering of the hunters, and the 
blast of the huntsman's bugle. Horsemen, one after 
another, appear in sight, urging on their foaming 
steeds. The spotted hounds ; the grey, black, and 
bay horses ; the red-coated hunters, are all plung- 
ing forwards. Dogs, steeds, and men seem ani- 
mated with one spirit ; on they go, and on they will 
go, in spite of accidents and impediments. Here a 
hound is bemired in a slough — there a horse rolls 
down a bank, or falls heavily over a broken gate — 
yonder a rider is thrown ! his limbs or his neck 
may be broken ; no matter to the rest ! Hark for- 
ward ! is the cry, and the excited throng plunge on 
with all the energy of body, soul, and spirit, thrown 
into the chase. Nothing long together impedes 
their progress ; nothing damps their spirit ; no- 
thing draws them aside from the object they have 
in view ; they have made up their minds to be in 
at the death of the fox, and at the death of the fox 
in they will be. The first sportsman who comes up, 
when the game is caught, jumps from his horse, 
lashes his way through the hounds, and taking out 
his knife cuts off the tail or brush of the fox, as a 
trophy of his boldness, his perseverance, and his 
success. 

Ephraim Holding is neither angler nor hunter ; 
but that is no reason why he should not look about 
him in the world, carefully observing the manners 

7* 



78 ARE YOU PATIENT AND PERSEVERING ? 

and customs of those around him, and drawing from 
them, when he can, an apt illustration or lesson of 
instruction. 

. Now look for a moment on the objects which 
have called forth this enduring patience on the part 
of the angler, and this untiring perseverance on the 
part of the hunter, a few hours' sport — a fish 
weighing a pound, and the tail of a fox ! Why the 
temporal and eternal welfare of only one Sunday 
scholar is worth more than the sport of years — all 
the foxes that ever ran on the ground, and all the 
fish that ever swam in the water. Well may I be 
excused, then, in urging on you the inquiry — Are 
yon patient and persevering ? Well, then, may I 
be allowed to say, be not outdone by the hunter and 
the angler. 

Willingly would I suppose that with the best 
of all motives you became Sunday school teachers, 
and that these best of all motives are now urging 
you on in the conscientious discharge of the duties 
you have undertaken ; but the experience of age, 
and some knowledge of the human heart, tells me 
it is much more likely that your motives were 
mixed with infirmity. Where one of you, with a 
single eye to God's glory, and the eternal welfare 
of your scholars, commenced your teaching career, 
in all probability, ten of you mingled with these 
motives others of a less praiseworthy kind. Some 
of you became teachers because you were asked to 
do so — because others whom you knew were teach- 



A.RE YOU PATIENT AND PERSEVERING? 79 

ers before you-* — because if you did so, many of 
your friends would respect you — because you 
thought, that you should like it, or because you con- 
sidered it to be your duty. But even supposing 
that love and gratitude for the Redeemer, and un- 
feigned desire for the spiritual good of your young 
charge, were the main spring of your actions, it is 
none the less necessary that you should be warned, 
and assisted, and encouraged, and urged onwards. 
Good motives often change their character : they are 
strong and weak, awake or asleep, as the case may 
be. At one time they fly like an eagle ; at another 
they creep like a tortoise. At one time they are 
all life and animation ; at another they are compara- 
tively dead. 

Love often hangs her head, and sings 

A faint and languid lay ; 
And faith and duty droop their wings. 

And loiter on their way. 

We ail require to be told of things which we 
already know ; to be reminded of things which 
we have not forgotten, and, therefore, the hints 
of Ephraim Holding may not be useless. You 
may be in the right road, but not going on at the 
right pace — you may be quick in your plans, and 
slow in their performance — your zeal may be more 
striking than your knowledge and judgment ; and 
you may be diligent without being patient; and 
patient without being persevering. 

I want the pictures that I have drawn of the 



80 ARE YOU PATIENT AND PERSEVERING ? 

patient angler and the persevering hunter to be im- 
pressed on your remembrance : often have I found 
illustrations of a striking kind useful to myself, and 
they may be equally so to you. Holy scripture 
abounds in pictures. Who can look on the follow 
ing one, without hating sloth ? "I went by the 
field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man 
void of understanding ; and, lo, it was all grown 
over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face 
thereof and the stone wall thereof was broken 
down. Then I saw and considered it well : I 
looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a 
little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the 
hands to sleep : so shall thy poverty come as one 
that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man." — 
Prov. xxiv. 30—34. 

Who can gaze on the following portrait of the 
drunkard, without shrinking at the thought of ex- 
cess ? " Who hath woe ? who hath sorrow ? who 
hath contentions % who hath babbling ? who hath 
wounds without cause ? who hath redness of eyes ? 
They that tarry long at the wine ; they that go to 
seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine 
when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, 
when it moveth itself aright. At last it biteth like 
a serpent, and stingeth like an adder." Prov. xxiii. 
29—30 

As Sunday school teachers you are not very 
likely to be slothful, and still less likely to indulge 
in drinking ; but these lively sketches that we find 



ARE YOU PATIENT AND PERSEVERING? 81 

in God's holy word may be useful to us all, in 
deepening our convictions, and increasing our ab- 
horrence against every sin. These pictures of the 
slothful man, with his weed-begrown field and 
vineyard, poverty coming upon him suddenly, and 
wants springing upon him as an armed man ! 
and of the red-eyed drunkard, wo-be-gone and 
sorrowful, bitten as with a serpent, and stung as 
with an adder, are frightful, but they are influen- 
tial ; and youth, manhood, and age, will do well to 
regard them. 

The figures of the angler and the hunter are 
presented to you, to bring an honest blush into 
your faces, if, with a glorious object in view, you 
have so little virtue, courage, patience, and perse- 
verence, as to be outdone by those who have only 
such a poor poverty-stricken recompence before 
them. I want to know, that, not as I once said — 
" when you feel strong ; when your school pros- 
pers, and your scholars are grateful ; when you 
are listening to some eloquent speech, or reading 
some talented essay wherein Sunday school teach- 
ers are spoken well of; w T hen the sun shines on 
your heads and in your hearts : but rather in the 
dull, dark, dabbling day, and in the hour of dis- 
appointment and despondency" — I want to know 
that then, in that dark hour, each of you has suffi- 
cient zeal, determination, principle, and piety, to 
" look upwards and go onwards," and depending 
on heavenly aid to say, I have engaged myself in 



82 ARE YOU PATIENT AND PERSEVERING? 

a good cause, and on I will go. I have set my 
heart on doing good to my class, and with God's 
help I will succeed ! Patience and perseverance 
will work wonders. Are you, then, patient, and 
are you persevering ? 

When we see mankind busily engaged in pro- 
curing the bits and drops that support them, or the 
comforts and luxuries of life, we find that among 
them patience and perseverance are in constant 
operation. Some traverse the trackless deep, con- 
tending with adverse winds, calms, and storms — 
some make the woods resound with the sturdy 
strokes of their axes, as the giant trees bow down 
before them — some till the ground, ploughing and 
sowing, and gathering in the harvest of their toil — 
some hunt the chamois on the Alps ; the bison on 
the prairie ; and the martin, the fox, and the beaver 
in the snow-clad wilderness of the north for the 
skins that cover them — some labour in mines, tear- 
ing from the bowels of the earth the various metals 
that are treasured there — some pursue the wander- 
ing whale amid the frowning icebergs of Hudson's 
or Baffin's bay, or cast their lengthy lines and 
baited hooks into the deep waters of the ocean — 
some labour in the crowded factory, the busy mill, 
or the fiery forge ; but enduring patience, and un- 
tiring perseverance, are necessary in all to accom- 
plish the objects that are before them. Consider, 
then, shall the mariner, the woodman, the farmer, 
the hunter, the miner, the whaler, and the artizan, 



ARE YOU PATIENT AND PERSEVERING? 83 

all be patient and persevering*, and the Sunday 
school teacher alone flag and despond in the path 
of duty ? Never ! never ! Your object, your 
principles, yea, all that is within you, I trust will 
cry out against such a state of things. You have 
set your hands to the plough in a glorious field ; 
look not behind you. " Endure hardness as good 
soldiers of Christ ;" and be not ranked with the 
sons of Ephraim, who " turned back in the day of 
battle." 

How abundant are the lessons of patience and 
perseverance with which we are surrounded ! The 
industrious ant appears always to be busy, continu- 
ally and untiringly occupied. The spider dili- 
gently weaves his web, and when it is woven, as as- 
siduously watches for his prey. The bee roves 
from flower to flower, gathering through the live- 
long day, without intermission, his honied sweets : 
the bird labours incessantly to build her nest, and 
then tends with unwearied care her e^gs and cal- 
low-brood : — so that if you lack patience, and if 
you are not persevering, the ant beneath your feet, 
and the bird above your head, the spider in his web, 
and the bee on the wing, are all monitors to reprove 
you. A want of patience and perseverance will 
sink you in your own estimation and in that of 
others, while it will effectually prevent your being 
useful, and perhaps spread around tne influence of 
a bad example. 

Now reflect a moment on the varied instances of 



84 ARE YOU PATIENT AND PERSEVERING ? 

patience and perseverance that I have laid before 
you ; they will at least show that the qualities 
urged on your consideration are common through- 
out the creation ; and that though we may reason- 
ably expect to attain our objects with them, we can- 
not reasonably expect to attain our objects without 
them. Gird up, then, the loins of your minds, and 
resolve meekly to sustain, and energetically to over- 
come, the difficulties in your Sunday school path. 
Do good to your scholars and yourselves, by a dili- 
gent attention to your common duties ; and in holy 
things " be not slothful, but followers of them who 
through faith and patience inherit the promises." 

I can fancy that I see you on the first day of the 
month, taking up the Sunday School Teachers' 
Magazine with its coloured covering and uncut 
leaves. You give a glance at the cover, and then 
turn over the leaf to read the table of contents. 
Here you have encouragement, reminiscences, let- 
ters, reviews, intelligence, lectures, plans for teach- 
ing, accounts of schools, poetry, or other things as 
the case may be, and then comes, u Communications 
have been received from" — under which head you 
often find names and initials of those whom you 
well know, and whom you delight to honor. 

After a little dipping here and there into the 
book, a little picking and choosing, not so much to 
read the severa. articles as to know what they are 
about, and what you have before you to read ; after 
dotting about from one page to another, at last 



ARE YOU PATIENT AND PERSEVERING? 85 

comes the inquiry, u What has Ephraim Holding 
to say, this month ? He is rather an odd old gen- 
tleman ; for he never goes into the real business of 
Sunday schools, but confines himself to general re- 
marks, hints, and encouraging observations. Who- 
ever he is, there is no doubt that he has a kind heart ; 
but why does he not lay down some express rules 
for us that would help us along, and our scholars 

too r 

For this plain reason, my young friends ; you 
have around you christian-hearted and talented 
men, interested in your success, who know much 
more than I do of the practical working of Sunday 
schools, and are much better qualified than I am to 
furnish you with rules for your guidance. My 
undertaking and object is simply to supply you 
with good reasons for patiently discharging your 
duty, and to call forth your best energies in perse- 
veringly pursuing the benevolent and honourable 
course in which you are engaged. 

I want you, then, to be patient and persevering. 
One proof of your patience and perseverance I 
particularly require ; it is this, that while you get 
all the good that is possible from better sources of 
advice and instruction, you w T ill continue patiently 
and perseveringly to read, and turn to advantage 
when you can, the homely hints of your old 
friend. 

8 



IX. 

DO YOU ABHOR DECEIT 1 

Think not that I ask this under an impression 
that you do not disapprove of deceit ! I take it for 
granted that you must disapprove of it ; but my 
question is put to ascertain whether your disappro- 
val amounts to an absolute abhorrence of it? Do 
you hate it with a perfect hatred? If you do not, 
it may be practised under your eye without your 
perceiving it ; but if you do, you will be quick to 
discover it in your scholars, and thereby be able, 
perhaps, to render them an invaluable service, by 
taking measures for its exposure and its cure. 

In the word of God, truth is so highly extolled, 
and deceit and hypocrisy so deeply reprobated, that 
I may well be pardoned if, in my desire to quicken 
your perceptions of deceit, I relate to you some in- 
stances of it not connected with Sunday schools. 
The eye of a Sunday school teacher should be quick 
to detect deceit and falsehood, and he should be ear- 
nest in his endeavour to root it out of the youthful 
hearts around him. 

If we look into the world at large, we shall find 
that deceit is provided with masks of all complex- 
ions, and with clothes of all fashions ; yet, with all 



DO SOU ABHOR DECEIT? 87 

its cunning and all its devices, common honesty is 
more than a match for it : it is swift, but integrity 
overtakes it ; it is strong, but truth overcomes it. 
u Bread of deceit is sweet to a man, but afterwards 
his mouth is filled with gravel." Pro v. xx. 17. 

In spite of the temporary advantages obtained by 
crooked ways, it is a truth which cannot be gain- 
say ed, that the hypocrite deceives no one so much 
as himself. Hour after hour and year after year, 
he may go on strong in the delusion, that he is over- 
reaching those around him, while all the while he 
himself is the greatest sufferer from his own deceit. 
The beggar who ties up his leg to extort charity, 
robs himself of the honest shilling he might procure 
by industry, for the discreditable sixpence his deceit 
and idleness obtain. Take every opportunity of 
showing your scholars the folly as well as the sin 
of deceitful ways, and of encouraging them in open- 
hearted frankness and truth. Never pass over an 
excuse for late attendance, inattention, or any other 
error that is founded in falsehood. Let it be known 
at once that you see through the deceit, and encour- 
age your scholars, by forbearance and kindness, to 
tell the real cause of their neglect. Uprightness 
and truth are beautiful things — pearls of inestima- 
ble value ! wear them constantly in your own bo- 
soms, and recommend them to all who are under 
your care. 

I have known young people who were so accus- 
tomed to deceit that they were hardly expected to 



88 DO YOU ABHOR DECEIT? 

act uprightly. There was always something Hid- 
den, kept back, or misrepresented by them. What 
a crooked course did they pursue, and how unlovely 
were their lives ! 

I remember a singular case of deceit in a young 
girl, a mere child, who for several days kept a 
whole neighbourhood in a constant state of alarm. 
She had been received into the house where she 
lived, to render what assistance she could as a ser- 
vant. One day a pane of glass was fractured in 
the kitchen window, and soon after this other panes 
were broken in rapid succession, in a most unac- 
countable manner, during which time the young 
girl went about whining and crying as if she were 
half frightened out of her wits. 

A report soon ran abroad of the strange things 
which were taking place at the house, and a con- 
course of people assembled, but the breaking of the 
glass went on as before. Though a sheet was 
spread all over the outside of the kitchen window, 
it had no effect in preventing the mischief — down 
came the jingling glass as fast as ever ; stones fell 
among the spectators, and hot coals were dashed 
against the kitchen ceiling. A constable was called 
in, the neighbourhood was inspected, and people set 
to watch, but all in vain. 

When the young girl went into the cellar at night 
for coals, brick ends were thrown against the kitchen 
door ; and when she went up bed, she presently 
came running down stairs again to say that six or 



DO YOU ABHOR DECEIT 1 89 

eight squares of glass had been just broken in the 
window of her bedroom. For several days these 
strange occurrences went on. without any one being 
able to throw a light on the matter. 

At leno-th it was observed that the lead of the 
broken windows was bent outwards, as though the 
mischief had been done from the inside of the house. 
A watch was then set inside, and the young girl 
was seen, while the people, with their backs towards 
her, gazed at the window, to take coals from the fire, 
and fling them up against the ceiling. She was 
directly led off to prison, when the fear of punish- 
ment induced her to confess the wicked and deceit- 
ful part she had acted. 

By way of revenge for some real or supposed 
unkindness on the part of her mistress, this deceitful 
girl had determined to do all the mischief she could. 
She had secreted stones in the house to effect her 
purpose. She had watched her opportunities when 
she was not seen, to demolish the windows, and to 
spread confusion around. She had crept through 
the cellar window at night to throw brick ends at 
the door ; and she had broken the attic windows 
with a stone bottle, afterwards running down stairs 
apparently affrighted at the destruction that was 
tailing place. 

This poor girl was very ignorant ; she had not 
had not the benefit of a Sunday school education. 
Think, then, for a moment, of the position you oc- 
cupy. If by your care and kind attention to the 



90 DO YOU ABHOR DECEIT? 

Sabbath duties undertaken by you, one young per- 
son can be kept from such a wicked and deceitful 
course as that I have described, your time will not 
be lost, your patience and perseverance will not 
have been in vain. Set the highest example before 
yourselves and your scholars, even the Saviour of 
sinners, for he had no guile in him, " neither was 
any deceit in his mouth " 

Among the different kinds of deceit and imposture 
which prevail, that of affecting to be afflicted with 
disease is so fearful an impiety, that one might 
wonder how it is that he who counterfeits lameness, 
or rolls the balls of his eyes to affect blindness, is 
not afraid of the lightning flash of divine wrath 
as a punishment for his presumption and hypocrisy. 

I am about to describe a case of this kind to which 
I was an eye-witness some years ago, when spend- 
ing a week or two at a farmhouse in Hertfordshire. 
While sitting with a few friends in the parlour, a 
lady, one of the visitors, came in, and requested me 
to see a servant who had just called in, said to be 
afflicted with St. Vitus's dance. 

Now among the manifold inflrmites to which 
human beings are subject in this world of sin and 
sorrow, the disease commonly called St. Vitus's 
dance is by no means the' lightest. Often times the 
patient is affected with continual twitches and con- 
tortions that are distressing even to witness. 

Well, as I said, the lady requested me to see the 
servant, assigning as a reason that she strongly sus- 






DO YOU ABHOR DECEIT? 91 

peeled her to be an impostor. Now, thinking that 
the poor girl, ]f she were really afflicted, had quite 
enough to endure, without any addition in the way 
of unjust accusation, I endeavoured to excuse my- 
self; but the lady was urgent, and strengthened her 
case of suspicion by relating so many little subter- 
fuges on the part of the girl, that, at last, I under- 
took the case, determined to act with caution and 
kindness. The servant had left at least half a do- 
zen places of service on account of her affliction, so 
that for a long time she lived without work, on a 
weekly sum allowed her by the parish. 

I found her to be a stout and apparently healtny 
young woman, only that her right hand was in 
violent and continual motion. After asking her a 
few general questions, I took hold of her hand, en- 
deavouring to keep it quiet, when, in a moment, the 
action was transferred to the elbow. This called 
forth my suspicions. I then, holding her wrist 
with my left hand, grasped the arm above the elbow 
with my right, when directly an evident effort was 
madf to move the joint of the shoulder. Had a 
doubt then remained on my mind as to her being 
an impostor, it was soon removed by the girl her- 
self, for, finding the movement of her arm arrested, 
she, forgetting herself, made a half movement with 
the other hand to set herself at liberty. 

Though fully convinced that she was a deceiver, 
I kept my discovery to myself, and asked her if 
ever she had been bled ? With some degree of 



92 DO YOU ABHOE, DECEIT 1 

alarm, she replied " No !" and said that the parish 
doctor thought it not proper. Her alarm at the 
thought of being bled was not lost upon me : I had 
now made two important discoveries ; the one that 
she was a deceiver, the other that she had a fear of 
the operation of bleeding. 

A little insight into character gives us great 
advantage in going through the world, and I found 
it to be so in the occurrence I am relating. " Young 
woman," said I, " your case is a bad one, but I 
hope and trust it is not beyond remedy. Then, 
turning to the lady of the house, I requested her 
instantly to remove the patient into a back room, 
and to lose no time in procuring a wash-hand basin, 
linen rag, and bandages. With consternation in her 
face, the young woman retired. 

Possibly you may think that I acted a some- 
what hard-hearted if not a dangerous part. It is 
true that I doubted not the girl believed me to be a 
doctor, and I took no pains to undeceive her ; it is 
true also, that serious consequences have often oc- 
curred from sudden fright ; but then remember, the 
sin she was committing was a sad one ; it had 
been practised for years, and called aloud for ex- 
posure ; and I had full opportunity to exercise my 
judgment as to the effects which her fear had upon 
her. 

Proceeding to the back parlour, I found all things 
in readiness ; the servant girl was standing with 
her hand in motion as before. Binding up the arm 



DO YOU ABHOR DECEIT ? 93 

of my pale-faced patient, and placing it over the 
wash-hand basin, I took out my pen-knife, not hav- 
ing a lancet, and held it so that she could only see 
the point of it. I then looked in her face to read, if 
I could, what was passing in her mind. 

Unhappy girl ! She had spread' her net of de- 
ceit, and had fallen into her own toils ! What poor 
creatures we are when we lose the support of an up- 
right intention and a good conscience ! What mise- 
rable boggling and shuffling we are compelled to 
resort to, when we try to pass off wrong for right, 
and evil for good. 

Just as I had pointed to the full vein in the poor 
girl's arm, I gave a start, and then, hastily putting 
my fingers on her pulse, observed it appeared to me 
that the attack was about to subside, and that I would 
on no account have recourse to bleeding if it could 
be avoided. Recommending the young woman to 
keep herself quiet for ten minutes to see whether the 
symptoms would not abate, and again expressing 
my great objection to bleed her unless it should be 
absolutely necessary, I left the room. 

Before the ten minutes had expired, I received 
private intelligence that a very great improvement 
had taken place in my patient ; that the violent ac- 
tion of her arm had much abated, and that, in short, 
there was every prospect of a complete cure. 

When I again made my appearance, hardly could 
I preserve my gravity, for the young woman scarcely 
moved her arm. There was, setting aside the wick- 



94 DO YOU ABHOR DECEIT'? 

edness of deceit, something so truly ludicrous in the 
gentle risings and fallings of that arm, which was 
before so violent, that my slender stock of philoso- 
phy was almost overcome ; however I did contrive 
to preserve my gravity.. 

Once mo*re I applied my fingers to -the pulse, 
looked wise, and asked a few unmeaning questions, 
after which I made a few remarks on the sudden 
changes which characterised some complaints, and 
concluded my observations by saying that I could 
not rest satisfied till every symptom had subsided ; 
so long as the slightest motion was visible in the af- 
fected limb, I should be apprehensive of a return of 
the attack. 

Again I left my patient for a short time, and on 
my return found the cure was complete. Not a 
finger, not a muscle moved. St. Vitus's dance, for 
the time at least, was completely eradicated ; so, 
binding up her arm in her apron, I directed her to 
support it with her other hand, and to walk home 
as gently as she could. 

The windows of the farm-house parlour, which 
overlooked the road from the house, were crowded 
with all the visitors, as the recovered patient crept 
like a snail down the avenue to the white gate, car- 
rying her wrapt-up arm carefully with her left 
hand, thinking, no doubt, how well she had con- 
trived to deceive the doctor. 

I had now done all that had been required of me ; 
I had tried the delinquent, and proved her guilty of 



DO YOU ABHOR DECEIT? 95 

deceit. The disease of St. Vitus's dance was all an 
imposture. It then remained for them whom it 
most concerned to take such steps as would effectu- 
ally prevent my unhappy patient from ever again 
profiting by her hypocrisy. How true it is that 
"the way of transgressors is hard;" that '-the folly 
of fools is deceit ;" and that " the joy of the hypo- 
crite is but for a moment." For a season this un- 
happy girl had succeeded in living a life of idleness, 
obtaining pay from the parish on account of her 
supposed infirmity ; but how dearly in the loss of 
her character would she have to pay for the impos- 
ture. 

The aged tenant of the farmhouse lies in the 
churchyard, and part of the visitors slumber in the 
tomb ; yet here am I still, mercifully preserved, 
penning down this poor record of bygone days. 

Had this poor ignorant girl received the advan- 
tages of a Sunday school education, and been faith- 
fully dealt with by her instructors, it is hardly pro- 
bable that she would have persevered in so hypo- 
critical and hardened a career. Look around you, 
then, and see if among your scholars there is one 
in whose heart this error, this vice, this sin is taking 
root. It is a good thing for you to accustom your- 
selves to discover the germs of evil, the beginnings 
of sin in your young charge, and then to look at 
these things in their full growth ; remembering that 
sin, though small as the mustard seed of Scripture, 
which you know is described as the least of all seeds, 



96 DO YOU TURN PASSING 

grows rapidly, and may become as the wide-spread- 
ing tree, which delves deep with its roots, and ex- 
tends its gigantic branches afar. 

My object in these remarks has been to quicken 
your perceptions in the discovery of deceit in your 
scholars, that you may, with God's blessing, be 
made a means to defend them from the evil of their 
own hearts. The best way to do this will be in a 
prayerful spirit to keep a watchful eye over your 
own hearts, and to say in sincerity, " Examine me, 
O Lord, and prove me ; try my reins and my heart." 
Psalm xxvi. 2. 



X. 



DO YOU TURN PASSING OCCURRENCES TO 
ADVANTAGE % 

As in my present hints I mean to be practical, so, 
perhaps, there is the fairer prospect of my being 
useful. After all the plans and contrivances which 
have been laid down for Sunday school teaching, the 
common routine of your accustomed duties is, perhaps, 
the most important. There can be no doubt that es- 
pecial advantages are obtained by addresses, striking 
remarks, visits of talented and christian-minded 
strangers, the introduction of new, interesting, and 



OCCURRENCES TO ADVANTAGE ? 97 

profitable books, and by private conversation with 
your scholars ; still, I do not think that these ad- 
vantages are altogether equal in importance to those 
which are secured by a punctual, patient, and per- 
severing attention to your common routine of in 
struction. When I first learnt to write with my 
school companions, some of us were very fond of 
flourishing with our pens ; u I have no objection," 
said our tutor to us one day, when we were thus 
employed, u I have no objection to your learning to 
flourish, but first attend to your writing ; secure a 
good, plain, intelligible hand, and then flourish as 
much as you please." You perceive that the 
homely hint I here mean to give you is this ; benefit 
your scholars by every means in your power, but, 
above all, by a punctual, patient, and persevering 
attention to your common routine of Sabbath in- 
struction. If you do no more than teach them to 
read God's holy word, and impress their minds with 
the value of prayer and holy things, you will be to 
them real friends, and kind benefactors. 

But though I thus speak of your common duties 
as, under God's blessing, the most to be relied on, 
and the most important, yet would I strongly advo- 
cate the spirit^ the talent, and the practice of turning 
to advantage passing occurrences. The Sunday 
school teacher who can avail himself readily of the 
little incidents which are continually taking place 
in every situation, may do much good to those under 
his care by his apt remarks : he will spread cheer- 

9 



98 DO YOU TURN PASSING 

fulness around ; lighten labour ; win the good will 
of his scholars, and increase his influence among 
them. 

Now, let me give a few instances of what I mean, 
by way of illustration : it will be odd, indeed, if out 
of a dozen homely hints, you should not be able to 
pick out two or three which may be worth remem- 
bering. Old Ephraim Holding is surely not so 
hardly driven to it, as to be utterly unable to throw 
out a useful suggestion to his young friends. 

If a scholar come to school early, let him not 
suppose that you are unmindful of the circumstance, 
but rather encourage him with a cheering remark, 
after the following fashion : " This is something 
like ! A good beginning is the way to a good end- 
ing. Give me the boy with a willing mind : one that 
comes to school by the rail-road, and not by the 
broad-wheeled wagon. They tell me that early 
cherries have been sold at a guinea a pound in Co- 
vent-garden market, and you may buy late cherries 
there at two-pence." 

If a scholar come late. u How is this? A 
quarter behind time ! Never let it happen again ; 
my time is worth as much as your's, and I have 
quite as much to do away from the school as you 
have, and yet I am here before you. Had I given 
notice that a plum cake would have been divided 
among the early comers, you would have been here 
half-an-hour ago ; and yet your Sabbath instruction, 
with God's blessing, will be worth more to you than 



OCCURRENCES TO ADVANTAGE ? 99 

all the plum-cakes in the world. Now do not come 
again with heavy heels, take all the lead out of 
your shoes, and see if instead of coming a quarter 
after time, you cannot get here a quarter before." 

When the sun shines. u You see, boys, the sun 
is doing his duty, now let us do ours. If it would 
be a shame to sit in idleness by the light of twenty 
candles, it would be a sin as well as a shame to 
waste the light of the sun, that millions of candles 
could not outshine !" 

On a dark day. "If we cannot see the sun to- 
day, it is a great comfort that we can see our books. 
The people at the Blind Asylum, who have no eye- 
sight, are as busy as bees on a week-day ; let us, 
then, who have eye-sight, be as busy as bees on the 
Sabbath." 

On a sharp frost. u This is a cold day ; but he 
who sends us the sunshine, sends us the frost ; and 
if the one is intended to do good, so is the other. 
The people in some countries have frost and snow 
almost all the year. Now, if they can bear so much 
pinching, I warrant we can bear a little. If there 
were no frost, there would be no ice, and if you had 
no ice, you would have no sliding. Think of this, 
boys, and none of you screw up your faces, but all 
of you bear the cold without a murmur." 

On a hot day. " If we were in the East or West 
Indies, or in an African desert, with no tree to af- 
ford us a shade, we should have some cause to com- 
plain of the heat : but as it is, we must try to make 



100 DO YOU TURN PASSING 

ourselves easy. So long- as we wish fruit to be 
brought to maturity, and corn to ripen for the sickle, 
every hot day should fill our hearts with thankful- 
ness and joy." 

When it rains. u It comes down now, however ! 
It would be a hard task to count the drops of rain, 
but a much harder one to count God's mercies. In 
some parts of the world they have no rain for years 
together, and in other parts it keeps on raining 
month after month incessantly. Whenever it rains 
we should thank God for two things ; the one, that 
we have rain enough ; the other, that we have not 
too much." 

After a clap of thunder. " If God were always 
to speak to us in thunder, it would indeed terrify us. 
How thankful then should we be for the gentle 
Avhisperings of his Holy Word ! Every thunder- 
storm should make us value our Bibles more than 
ever." 

On beginning school. " Now, boys, to business, 
to business ! A Sunday school is like a flower- 
garden: the books are the flowers, and the scholars 
are the bees. That is the best bee that gets the most 
honey, and he is the best boy who gets the most 
wisdom." 

When the clock strikes, for sometimes it is lar- 
umed aloud from some church tower in the neigh- 
bourhood of a Sunday school. " Do you hear the 
clock, boys ? It tells us two things ; the one, that 
we are living ; the other, that we are dying, for 



OCCURRENCES TO ADVANTAGE? 101 

time is hastening on. The striking of a clock 
should make us thankful for life, and remind us to 
prepare for death. 

To a diligent scholar. " A little wisdom in the 
head, is worth more than a great deal of money in 
the pocket ; and your diligent habits will do you 
more good than a gold mine. Only continue as 
you are going on now, and we shall some day be 
glad to turn the scholar into a teacher." 

To the scholars when about to return home. 
u Now boys, forget not at home what you have 
learned at school. I remember many years ago 
two parties quarrelling ; the one was determined to 
build a wall which was wanted, and the other was 
equally determined that the wall should not be built ; 
so every day a portion of the wall was built by the 
one party, and every night it was pulled down by the 
other. Now mind, boys, that you do not act so 
foolish a part. Mind that you do not pull down 
during the week the wall we have built together at 
the Sunday school on the Sabbath." 

These instances are merely given, as I said, by 
way of illustration ; they are homely hints which 
you may turn to advantage, by improving upon 
them as occasion may serve. You have heard 
many such sayings as these. " Time and tide wait 
for no man." " An opportunity lost is never to be 
regained." " If you lose the ship, you lose the 
voyage ;" and, " A minute too late is too late for 
ever." Now all these are meant to set forth the 

9* 



102 DO YOU TURN PASSING 

wisdom of taking advantage of occasions and op« 
portunities. It is wise to do this through life ; it is 
wise to do it at home and abroad ; and it is wise to 
do it at the Sunday school. 

But when I ask, if you turn passing occurrences 
to advantage, I wish not to confine the inquiry alto- 
gether to the hours you pass at the Sunday school. 
It is on the Sabbath day that you take on yourselves 
the office of instructors j but every day you may do 
something to render yourselves more capable in the 
discharge of your duty. If with an eye to your 
Sabbath engagements, you look around you during 
the week, for something that might be useful to you 
at your school on a Sunday, you will hardly fail 
to find it. Everything that adds to your knowledge, 
and improves your character ; everything that in- 
creases your interest in the welfare of young peo- 
ple ; deepens your convictions of the hatefulness of 
sin, imparts an additional value to God's Holy 
Word, and heightens your desire for the Redeem- 
er's glory, is an advantage. There is as much dif- 
ference between the teaching of one who is in love 
with his vocation, and the teaching of another who 
is influenced by inferior motives, as there is between 
a. real fire and a painted flame. The one is warm 
olowino-, and o-rateful ; the other is cold and cheer- 
less. 

Do not undervalue my hint of laying up on a 
week-day what may be useful on a Sunday. For 
several years I was accustomed to spend a few 



OCCURRENCES TO ADVANTAGE? 103 

hours, on a certain day of the week with one who 
was much confined within doors. Invalids are cut 
off from many enjoyments, and the call of a friend, 
and the narration of any passing occurrence of in- 
terest is often a great gratification to them. Well, 
I used to store my memory through the week, as 
well as I could, with such profitable remarks and 
interesting particulars as came within my reach, so 
that when the day came round, I had a well sup- 
plied budget of welcome intelligence. This be- 
came a sure source of mutual gratification ; and I 
question much whether my poor invalided friend 
received more pleasure in hearing, than I did in 
narrating the several particulars I had collected to- 
gether. Try to profit by my experience ; and 
what I did for my invalided friend, do you for your 
Sunday school. 

It has been said that you may walk abroad the 
whole year without once seeing a pin lying on the 
ground, but that if you go out with the intention 
of picking up a pin, you will be sure to find one ; 
if this be a truth, and I am quite inclined to believe 
it is, there is no reason why it should not be ap- 
plied to a useful lesson for young people, as well 
as to a pin. Make it a business to look for some- 
thing that may be made useful to your scholars, and 
there is very little doubt but you will find it. 

If you see a sun-rise, or a sun-set, or a moonlight 
scene 3 that impresses your mind with the greatness 



104 DO YOU TURN PASSING 

or beauty of God's glorious creation ; or a text of 
Scripture which exhibits in a striking light the 
grace of the Redeemer, say to yourself, " I will 
mention this at the Sunday school, it has impressed 
me, it may impress others ; if it has called forth 
gratitude in my heart, it may make the hearts of 
my Sunday scholars thankful." This custom, perse- 
vered in, will become pleasant to you, and pleasant 
and profitable to those under your care. 

If, in the course of your reading, you meet with 
anything that will point out the temptations and 
dangers that young people are subject to, let it not 
be forgotten. A short time ago, I read an account 
of a person engaged in the post-office, who was 
tempted to secrete a letter which he thought had 
money in it; being suspected, he was examined, 
and the letter found in his possession. For stealing 
of that letter, which after all contained only a 
penny-piece, he was transported for life ! Think 
of a human being losing his character, his liberty, 
and his peace, and all for a penny ! It is true that 
he thought the letter contained more than a penny ; 
but it shows what poor wages the author of evil gi\ r es 
to those who obey him. When you meet with such 
an account as this, fail not to take it with you to the 
Sunday school : it may open the eyes of some of 
your class to the sin and folly of dishonesty, and 
impress their minds deeply and solemnly with the 
commandment, " Thou shalt not steal." 

Experience teaches us the wisdom of sowing the 



OCCURRENCES TO ADVANTAGE? 105 

seeds of instruction, admonition, and encourage- 
ment freely, for we know not what part of them 
will spring up, and what part of them die. Cer- 
tain it is that young people often remember what 
we do not suppose has made a lodgment in their 
minds, and forget what we take the most pains to 
impress on theiF memory. The habit of sowing 
freely is the most likely to secure a good harvest. 

When a boy is put apprentice to a business, of 
whatever kind it is, though he may be altogether 
ignorant of it at first, he acquires afterwards a de- 
gree of expertness : and if it be so with the appren- 
tice-boy, why should not it be so with you? If 
you make it your business to consider how you can 
best serve your classes at the Sunday school, take 
my word for it, you will hit upon methods and find 
out means which at first never occurred to you. 

When I fall back on my experience, and consi- 
der how many of the words and deeds of those who 
acted kindly to me in my boyish days are treasured 
in my memory, it operates as an encouragement to 
pay attention to young people ; and willingly would 
I turn every passing occurrence to their advantage, 
not even losing my present opportunity of impress- 
ing you with the propriety of doing the same thing. 
Not yet have I forgotten the days of my youth ; 
not yet have I ceased to feel a lively interest in the 
welfare of young people ; and so long as Ephraim 
Holding truly desires that the world may increase 
in knowledge, kindness, goodness, and the fear of 



106 WHAT IS YOUR STOCK OF INFORMATION? 

the Lord, so long must he respect and honour Sun 
day school teachers, for their christian labours on 
behalf of the rising generation. 



XL 

WHAT IS YOUR STOCK OF INFORMATION 1 

Although of all necessary qualifications ih a 
Sunday school teacher the sincere desire to benefit 
his scholars in time and eternity is the most neces- 
sary, yet would I, again and again, urge on you 
the importance of attaining knowledge. 

It is true that, with a goodly sincerity of purpose, 
much good may be done, with only knowledge 
enough to keep a little a-head of your several 
classes, but an increase of attainments is such an 
increase of power, that the question, " What is 
your sto'k of information ?" may be made useful. 
So many circumstances take place, and so many 
occasions present themselves, in which the posses- 
sion of knowledge will strengthen your hands, and 
increase your influence, that, from, day to day, and 
from hour to hour, you should diligently add to 
your mental stores. 

It is not to know things merely, that is desirable, 
but to be so familiar with them, as to be able to 



WHAT IS FOUR STOCK OF INFORMATION? 107 

apply your knowledge promptly and practically, as 
the case may require. This familiarity with know- 
ledge I will venture to press a little more on your 
attention. 

Your knowledge of God's word, I trust, is 
considerable ; you know, most likely, the general 
contents of every book it contains, from Genesis 
to Revelation, and are familiar with Scripture 
characters. 

You know that the word Scripture signifies 
writing ; that the Holy Scriptures comprehend the 
Old and New Testaments, written by holy men, 
inspired by the Holy Ghost. That the Scriptures 
are called The Bible, or The Book, by way of pre- 
eminence, as it far excels every other book ; that 
the Old Testament is the " dispensation of the cov- 
enants of grace by types and shadows," represent- 
ing "the coming of the Messiah ;" and that the New 
Testament, or the Gospel, is M the new dispensation 
of the covenant of grace," showing the Messiah to 
be come. 

You know that the history of the Bible is the 
most ancient of any in the world — that it contains 
an account of the creation — the sin of our first pa- 
rents — the promise of a Messiah or Redeemer — 
the general depravity of mankind — the flood — the 
building of Babel, and the scattering of the inhabi- 
tants of the earth — the Egyptians and their plagues 
— the idolatrous nations — the wanderings of the 
children of Israel in the desert, and the signs and 






108 WHAT IS YOUR STOCK OF INFORMATION? 

wonders wrought there for theni — the Ten Com 
mandments and the laws — the bringing the people 
into the land of Canaan ; together with a full nar- 
ration concerning the patriarchs and the prophets, 
the priests and the kings, 

The New Testament, you know, treats d our 
blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; his birth y 
life, teaching, miracles, cruel death, and glorious 
resurrection, with an account of John the Baptist, 
his forerunner, and his followers, the Apostles, 
with their testimony to the truth of the Gospel. 
I give you credit for the knowledge of these 
things, but are you as familiar with them as you 
ought to be ? if not, make up your mind to be- 
come so. 

You are aware, most likely, that the first age of 
the world extends from Adam to Noah ; the second, 
from Noah to Abram ; the third, from Abram to 
Moses ; the fourth, from Moses to David ; the 
fifth, from David to Nehemiah ; the sixth, from 
Nehemiah to John the Baptist, and the birth of 
our Saviour Jesus Christ ; and the seventh onward 
to the period when St. John wrote his Gospel. If 
these ages are fixed in your memory, they will 
afford you great assistance in your meditations on 
the past. 

You know that, from a very early age, idolatry 
has been widely spread abroad ; and probably you 
know that the Egyptians worshipped Osiris, Isis, 
and Typhon ; the Persians, Ormuzd, Mithas, and 



WHAT IS YOUR STOCK OF INFORMATION? 109 

Ahriman ; the Hindoos, Brahma, Seeva, and Vish- 
nu ; the Babylonians bowed down to Belus ; the 
Syrians, Canaanites, and Philistines, to Moloch, 
Baal, Dagon, and Rimmon ; the Peruvians, to the 
sun, moon, and stars ; and the Mexicans, to Vitzli- 
putzli and Kaloc ; the Scythians adored Tabite, 
Papius, and Apia ; the Scandinavians, Odin, Frea, 
and Thor ; the Celts, whose priests were Druids, 
Teutates, Dis, and Andate ; and that the Greeks 
and Romans worshipped Jupiter, Neptune, Mer- 
cury, Apollo, Mars, Vulcan, Juno, Minerva, and 
others. Though these are but a small part of 
the gods of the heathen, they are some of the 
principal among them. Though you may know 
these facts generally, your occasionally reading 
them over will refresh your memory, and, per- 
haps, make you more thankful for your knowledge 
of the true God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our 
Lord. 

You may know that the history of the English 
Bible includes a period of nine hundred years, and 
I may be stating nothing 'new to you in recapitu- 
lating the following facts ; the venerable Bede 
translated the Psalter and the Gospel into the 
Anglo-Saxon by order of King Alfred. The price 
of a Bible, in 1274, fairly written, with a Commen- 
tary, was £30., though in 1240, two arches of 
London Bridge were built for £25. 

Richard Rolles was one of the first to attempt a 
translation of the Bible into the English language 

10 



110 WHAT IS YOUR STOCK OF INFORMATION? 

as it was spoken after the Conquest. He wrote a 
paraphrase in verse on the book of Job, and a gloss 
upon the Psalter ; but the whole Bible by Wickliffe 
appeared between 1360 and 1380. 

A bill in the year 1390 was brought into the 
House of Lords to forbid the use of English Bibles, 
but it did not pass. A decree of Arundel, Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, in 1408 forbade unauthorised 
persons to translate any text of Holy Scripture into 
English, as well as prohibited the reading of any 
translation till approved of by the bishops or a coun- 
cil. Several persons were burned for reading the 
word of God. 

In the reign of Henry the Fifth, a law was 
passed, " That whoever should read the Scriptures 
in their mother-tongue, should forfeit land, cattle, 
body, life, and goods, from their heirs for ever, and 
be condemned for heretics to God, enemies to the 
crown, and most errant traitors to the land." And 
between 1461 and 1483, Fust, or Faustus, who un- 
dertook the sales of Bibles at Paris, where printing 
was then unknown, narrowly escaped punishment. 
He was taken for a magician, because he produced 
them so rapidly, and because one copy was so much 
like another. 

The Latin Vulgate, printed at Mayntz, in 1462, 
-was the very first printed edition of the whole Bible 
in any language, bearing the date and place of its 
execution, and the name of the printer. The first 
printed edition of the Holy Scriptures in any mo- 



WHAT IS YOUR STOCK OF INFORMATION? Ill 

dern language was in German, in the year 1467. 
The New Testament, by Luther, revised by Melanc- 
thon, appeared in 1522. William Tyndal, in 1526, 
printed his English Testament at Antwerp ; but 
those who sold it in England, were condemned by 
Sir Thomas More, the Lord Chancellor, to ride 
with their faces to the horses' tails, with papers on 
their heads, and to throw back their books into the 
fire at Cheap-side. Tyndal himself was strangled 
and burned. His dying prayer was " Lord, open 
the King of England's eyes." John Fry, or Fryth, 
and William Roye, who assisted Tyndal in his 
Bible, were both burnt for heresy. 

Cranmer obtained a commission from the king 
to prepare, with the assistance of learned men, a 
translation of the Bible. It was to be printed at 
Paris, but the Inquisition interfered, and 2,500 
copies were seized and condemned to the flames. 
Some of these, however, being through avarice sold 
for waste paper by the officer who superintended 
the burning, were recovered, and brought to Eng- 
land, to the great delight of Cranmer, who, on re- 
ceiving some copies., said that it gave him more joy 
than if he had received two thousand pounds. It 
was commanded that a Bible should be deposited in 
every parish church, to be read by all who pleased ; 
and permission at last was obtained to all subjects to 
purchase the English Bible for the use of them- 
selves and families. 

In the year 1535, ^overdale's folio Bible was 



112 WHAT IS YOUR STOCK OF INFORMATION? 

published. In the reign of Edward the Sixth, new 
editions appeared. In Mary's reign, the gospellers, 
or reformers, fled abroad ; but a new translation of 
the New Testament in English, appeared at Ge- 
neva in 1557, the first which had the distinction of 
verses, with figures attached to them. 

A quarto edition of the whole Bible was printed 
at Geneva, in 1560, by Rowland Harte. A New 
Testament, in Welsh, appeared in 1569 ; the whole 
Bible in 1588, and the English translation called 
the Bishop's Bible, by Archbishop Parker, in 1568. 
It was in 1582 that the Roman Catholic Rhenish 
Testament appeared ; and in 1609 and 1610, that 
their Douay Old Testament was printed. In 1607 
was begun, and in 1611 was completed, a new and 
more correct translation, being the present author- 
ised verson of the Holy Scriptures, by forty-seven 
learned persons (fifty-four were appointed) chosen 
from the two Universities. This edition has been 
truly styled £{ not only the glory of the rich, and the 
inheritance of the poor," but " the guide to the way- 
worn pilgrim, the messenger of grace, and the 
means of knowledge, holiness, and joy to millions." 
Perhaps all of these facts are Well known to you> 
and thev may have made you value the word of 
God more highly than you did before you knew 
them : yet still memory is defective ; read them 
again and again, for you cannot be too familiar with 
them. 

You are not, I dare say, without some know- 



WHAT IS YOUR. STOCK OF INFORMATION? 113 



ledge of creation at large. You know that the 
sun is the centre of our system, around which the 
earth and other planets move ; that it is a million 
times larger than the earth, and at a distance from 
it of more than ninety-five million miles ; that the 
moon, which gives us light, is itself lighted by the 
sun : and that the stars are suns themselves ; that 
clouds are vapours ; that winds are air, put in mo- 
tion by heat and cold ; that snow is frozen vapour ; 
hail, frozen rain ; ■ and rain, small drops of vapour, 
united by cold air into larger drops, which the at- 
mosphere cannot sustain. 

You know that the earth is about twenty -four 
thousand miles round it, or eight thousand miles 
through it ; that its surface is formed of land and 
water ; that it is now usually divided into six parts ; 
Europe, Asia, Africa, America, Australasia, and 
Polynesia ; that its productions are animal, vegeta- 
ble, and mineral, and that its inhabitants are sup- 
posed to be about a thousand millions, varying in 
colour, language, religion, manners, customs, and 
opinions. You may know these things well, but 
if not, try to make yourselves familiar with them. 

The history of your own country is perhaps 
known to you, at least you are not altogether igno- 
rant of it. You know that eighteen hundred years 
ago, England was inhabited by heathen barbarians ; 
that it was conquered at different times by the Ro- 
mans, Saxons, Danes, and Normans ; that William 
the Conqueror built the Tower of London ; that his 

10* 



114 WHAT IS YOUR STOCK OF INFORMATION? 

son, William Rufus, was accidentally killed by an 
arrow ; that Henry the First was called Beauclerc, 
on account of his learning ; and that when Stephen 
reigned, England was troubled with civil wars. 

You know that Henry the Second conquered 
Ireland ; that Richard the First, called Lion's-heart, 
engaged in the crusade, to take possession of Pales- 
tine, or the Holy Land ; that King John was com- 
pelled to sign Magna Charta, the bulwark of En- 
glish liberty ; that Henry the Third reigned nearly 
fifty-six years ; and that Edward the First, when 
Prince of Wales, w T ould have died from the wound 
of a poisoned arrow, had not Eleanor, his wife, 
sucked out the venom from the part. 

You know that Edward the Second, a weak 
prince, was murdered at Berkeley Castle ; that Ed- 
ward the Third was crowned at fourteen years of 
age ; that Richard the Second quelled the rebellion 
led on by Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, by placing 
himself at the head of the insurgents ; that Henry 
the FouFfeh, to his disgrace, was the first to burn 
men on the charge of heresy ; that Henry the Fifth 
obtained great victories in France ; and that Wick- 
liffe, the father of the English Reformation, lived in 
his reign. 

You know that Henry the Sixth succeeded his 
father, when only nine months old ; in his reign 
took place the rebellion, headed by Jack Cade ; that 
Edward the Fourth was brave, but cruel also ; in 
his reign printing was first introduced into England ; 



WHAT IS YOUR STOCK OF INFORMATION? 115 

that Edward the Fifth was a boy, and reigned only- 
two months, being, it is said, murdered with his 
brother, in the Tower ; and that Richard the Third 
waded through slaughter to a throne, though many 
evil deeds are laid to his* charge, which he is now 
supposed to have been free from. 

You know, that in the reign of Henry the 
Seventh, the Cape of Good Hope, America, and 
the East and West Indies were discovered ; that 
Henry the Eighth, though a strong-minded mon- 
arch, lived a life of selfishness and cruelty ; in his 
reign, the reformation in religion was begun on the 
continent, by Martm Luther ; and the Bible, being 
translated and printed in English, was ordered to 
be set up in churches. You know that Edward 
the Sixth, a very young king, w r as pious, mild, and 
merciful ; when a companion wished him to set his 
foot on a large Bible to enable him to reach a shelf 
above him, he reproved him, saying, that he ought 
not to trample that under his feet, which he ought 
to treasure up in his head and his heart. 

You are aware that Queen Mary was a bigoted 
Roman Catholic, in whose reign between two and 
three hundred people were burned on account of 
their religion ; among them were Cranmer, Rid- 
ley, Latimer, Hooper, and Ferrar ; that Elizabeth 
restored the Protestant religion ; in her reign the 
Spanish armada was destroyed : that in the reign 
of James the First, the Gunpowder-plot, to blow up 
the Parliament-house, was formed and discovered ; 



116 WHAT IS YOUR STOCK OE INFORMATION? 

that Charles the First was beheaded at Whitehall ; 
that Oliver Cromwell ruled as Protector for nine 
years ; that Charles the Second was an abandoned 
libertine ; and that the pestilence which carried off 
more than sixty-eight thousand persons, and the 
great fire of London, that destroyed thirteen thousand 
houses, occurred in his reign. 

You remember that James the Second fled from 
his throne, which was ascended by William the 
Third ; the changes in the government, called the 
Revolution, took place in his time, and the Bank 
of England was established ; that Anne was much 
beloved ; in her time was brought about the Union 
between England and Scotland ; and that George 
the First laid it down as a maxim, " Never to aban- 
don his friends, to do justice to all the world, and to 
fear no man." 

You know, that in the reign of George the Se- 
cond, the British Musuem was established ; that 
George the Third reigned near sixty years ; one 
of his wishes was, that a Bible might be possessed 
by every one in his dominions ; in his reign Sun 
day schools were established in England ; that in 
the time of George the Fourth, great discoveries 
were made, Sunday schools multiplied, and religious 
publications widely spread abroad and at home ; 
that the Reform Bill was passed in the reign of 
William the Fourth, and the Act for the Abolition 
of Slavery in the British possessions ; and I need 
not remind you that Queen Victoria now sits on the 



WHAT IS YOUR STOCK OF INFORMATION? 117 

British throne. May she long reign in the hearts 
of her subjects, and, after that wear a heavenly 
crown. 

In this manner I might go on a long time run- 
ning over the heads of information, quite as well 
known to many of you as to myself; but, perhaps, 
I have said enough, and what I wish is, to impress 
your minds with the great advantage of obtaining 
a stock of useful information, and being familiar 
with what you know. When the English learner 
of a foreign language has obtained a fair knowledge 
of it, but not such a familiarity as to enable him to 
express therein his thoughts, or to comprehend 
what a speaker of it says without difficulty, he takes 
so much time to consider when spoken to, that he 
loses the opportunity of reply, and just so it is with 
all who are not familiar with the knowledge they 
possess. It is of little use to know things by halves. 
Be determined to know all you can, and also to know 
it well, and you will find abundant opportunities to 
turn it to advantage. 



XII. 

ARE YOU FOND OF CHILDREN 1 

When a nurse-girl applies for a situation, this 
question among others is almost sure to be put to 
her — " Are you fond of children?" and almost as 
sure is this answer to be returned, "yes, ma'am," or, 
" very, ma'am," or " I always was, ma'am." With- 
out being unreasonably severe upon the poor girl, 
experience proves that this reply is sometimes an 
improper one, being prompted rather by her sup- 
posed interest than her real inclination. 

But in putting the inquiry to you, there is no 
reason at all why you should not give an answer 
strictly in accordance with truth : for, in the first 
place, your interest will not be affected by your re- 
ply ; and, in the second, if it were, that reply will 
not be given to me, but to yourselves. Let me 
therefore urge on you the propriety of paying some 
attention to my question, as I mean to explain to 
you my motive in proposing it. 

Believing, as I do, that we may foster bad pas- 
sions, and good emotions, just as we may feed a 
viper or a dove, so it is important that we should be 
aware of this circumstance, that we may not on the 
one hand nourish what is bad within us 3 and that 



ARE YOU FOND OF CHILDREN? 119 

we may on the other encourage within us all that 
is kind, and useful, and virtuous, and good. If you 
have not in your hearts a fondness for young peo- 
ple, I want to excite it within you ; and, if you have, 
I would willingly increase it, and turn it to a good 
account. 

To put the question to you — Are you fond of 
young people ? appears to imply a greater doubt 
than I really entertain in this matter, for I can 
hardly suppose that you are not fond of them, see- 
ing that you devote so much time for their express 
benefit ; but still, as many from a sense of duty per- 
form acts which inclination does not prompt them 
to discharge, I will, for a moment, suppose the pos- 
sibility that your sympathies are not much excited ; 
that your affections are not much called forth by 
the society of young people. Let me then, under 
these supposed circumstances, speak a word or two 
in their behalf. 

You are now, for the most part, comparatively 
young yourselves ; but believe me, should }rour 
lives, by God's blessing, be prolonged, you will 
find in the world so much planning, contriving, and 
scheming ; so much underhand dealing and over- 
reaching ; in short, so much selfishness and sus- 
picion, that you will find it a relief to fall back upon 
the simplicity, the frankness, the open-heartedness, 
and unsuspecting disposition of young people. 
Youth has a thousand faults, but they are the faults 
of the moment, and you seldom find among the thou- 



120 ARE YOU FOND OF CHILDREN? 

sand a deliberate determination to seek an advan 
tage at your expense. How often, when my heart 
has been aching at the cold, suspicious, calculating 
selfishness of maturity, have I gazed on the open 
brow, the unsuspecting simplicity, and confiding 
faith, visible in the countenance of childhood, with 
an emotion of admiration and affection. In such 
seasons I could have snatched the little lovely ones 
before me to my arms. 

Oh, there is much in childhood that we ought to 
love ; much in the guileless spirit of children that 
we ought to practise in riper years : for my own 
part, I love such scenes as call forth my affections 
towards young people, either in their infancy or 
their youth. I love the old ballad of u The Chil- 
dren in the Wood," though there may not be a 
word of truth in the whole story. How affectingly 
the pretty babes are set forth, wandering hand-in- 
hand in their forlorn condition, — 

11 Their pretty lips with blackberries 

Were all besmeared and dyed ; 
And when they saw the darksome night, 

They sat them down and cried." 

" No burial this pretty pair 

Of any man receives, 
Till Robin Redbreast painfully 

Did cover them with leaves." 

There is a sweet piece of poetry by Mrs. Opie, 
called " The Orphan Boy ;" and a still sweeter 
piece by the poet Wordsworth, under the title K We 



ARE YOU FOND OF CHILDREN? 121 

are Seven." You, perhaps, know them both. In 
the former, we are led to pity a poor, little, unpro- 
tected boy ; and. in the latter, to admire the sim- 
plicity of a cottage girl, who cannot be persuaded 
that because she has a brother and sister in heaven, 
they are not, still, a part of the cottage family. I 
read this latter piece with the same emotion with 
w T hich I read it in my youth, and it makes my 
heart yearn towards the dear little prattler, who 
will have her way, and who will not consent to be 
robbed of her brother and sister. 

There is a painting, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
I believe, or Sir Thomas Lawrence, I forget which, 
of the child Samuel at prayer. If you have not 
seen it, very likely you have met with a print of it 
in the shop windows ; a sw r eet pretty picture it is. 
Little Samuel is kneeling in his night clothes, with 
his hands raised in supplication, a beam from above 
falling full on his head ; I have a copy of it framed 
and glazed, hanging up at the present time in my 
bed-room, and often do I look upon it with plea- 
sure. Moses in the bull-rushes, too, is a favourite 
subject with most of us, and I frequently call it to 
my remembrance. The danger of the poor babe 
endears him to us, and though we are aware that 
his. own mother is not far off, and that his ow T n sis- 
ter is watching over him, we seem hardly to be 
satisfied without watching over him ourselves. 
Now if I, by dwelling upon such scenes as these, 
or any other of a like kind, which I may happen 

11 



122 ARE YOU FOND OF CHILDREN? 

to meet, keep my affections alive towards young 
people, let not the hint be lost upon you. The 
same thing may be done by you with the same ad- 
vantage. 

Surely if you do not love children, a little con- 
sideration on their helplessness, simplicity, open- 
heartedness, and teachableness will move your 
affections ; and if you do love them, it will make 
you love them better than before. Had not our 
Saviour loved them he would not have said, " Suffer 
the little children to come unto me, and forbid them 
not ; for of such is the kingdom of God." 

But now let me take it for granted that you do 
love children, and that you are both willing and 
anxious to do them all the good you can by in- 
structing them zealously, bearing with them pa- 
tiently, reproving them kindly, and encouraging 
them cheerfully. You have not forgotten the proof 
required of Peter of his love for his Lord and Mas- 
ter. " Feed my lambs," and as you profess to love 
the same Lord, offer him then, the same proof of 
your sincerity. 

Perhaps one way of attaching you more to your 
scholars, and making you think less of the inatten- 
tion and bad behaviour you may at times meet with 
from them, may be this, — to bear in mind how 
much worse other scholars have behaved than 
yours, and how much more other Sunday school 
teachers have to endure and overcome than the 



ARE YOU FOND OF CHILDREN? 123 

comparatively little difficulties you have had to 
encounter. 

Think of the attempts which have been made at 
various times to educate, on the Sabbath, the 
thoughtless and wicked children of thoughtless and 
wicked parents. You may have scholars who ab- 
sent themselves from school on trifling accounts, 
but you never hear of their being at the police sta- 
tion, confined in Newgate, or labouring at the 
tread-mill. Though this is not the case with your 
scholars, it has been the case with others. 

You may have met with a scholar who has not 
behaved to you respectfully, but hardly have you, I 
think, ever been laughed and grinned at to your 
face. Hardly have you seen a scholar throw his 
heels over his head in school, to raise a laugh 
among his playmates ; nor is it likely, when you 
have directed a boy to follow you, that he has done 
so walking along the school on his hands, with his 
heels in the air, instead of walking on his feet. 
Though this has never occurred at your schools, it 
has occurred elsewhere. 

Occasional noises may be indulged in by some 
of the careless scholars, whom you have to instruct ; 
hut it is not probable that in the season of prayer 
and praise they have ever whistled and screamed, 
and catcalled one to another to break up the school, 
singing indecent songs, and tumbling the forms 
over on the floor; but if these things have not 



124 ARE YOU FOND OF CHILDREN? 

taken place among your boys, other school-boys 
have had recourse to them. 

Not yet, I suppose, have you ever had scholars 
so full of deceit, as to pretend, though they could 
read, they knew not a letter, and that merely to 
give you. trouble, and laugh at you for being so 
easily deceived. You have not, I dare say, had for 
scholars known thieves, who had no homes but the 
shelter afforded by carts, sheds, and pig-sties, and 
no employment but stealing ; nor can I conceive 
it a probable case that you have a scholar who has 
attempted to take away the life of another ; but 
though you have never had such reprobates to in- 
struct, other Sunday school teachers have. While 
you reflect, then, on the thoughtless depravity of 
such young people as I have described, and on the 
trying and painful situation of their kind instructors, 
think less of your difficulties, think better of your 
scholars, love them, and double your wonted dili- 
gence in doing them good. 

While trying to love them, fail not to try also to 
make them love you, and to act with habitual kind- 
ness one towards another. A spirit of discernment is 
necessary when dealing with young people, to ena- 
ble us to know when to commend and when to re- 
prove ; for their apparent kindness to one another, 
sometimes, springs from a bad motive, while, at 
others, their very errors arise from good affections. 
I have known boys act kindly to others, simply that 
they might prevail on them afterwards to do things 



ARE YOU FOND OF CHILDREN? 125 

that were evil, or that they might obtain some end 
of their own ; and I have also known boys to do im- 
proper things from the real kindness of their hearts. 
As an instance of the latter sort, a school-boy whom 
I knew, out of gratitude to one who had helped him 
in his lessons, absolutely stole from a neighbouring 
garden some fine Orlean plumbs to present them to 
his friend. A sad proof that kindness of heart, as 
well as unkindness, may manifest itself in a very 
improper manner. 

I will relate here a story that I have met with, 
which places in a clear point of view the possibility 
of good affections and kind intentions, when not re- 
gulated by prudence and controlled by principle, 
leading to the commission of crime. 

It happened, says the story, that a gentleman 
had an unusual abundance of fine grapes in his hot- 
house, and his gardener boasted far and near, that 
such grapes were not to be had in the country. 
This information soon reached the ears of a numer- 
ous gang of gipsies, who had encamped on the skirt 
of the common hard by. 

The gipsies had boiled their evening pot sus~ 
pended from three sticks ; they had supped, played 
on the fiddle, and retired to rest, some under the 
tent, some stretched at full length under an old oak 
tree, and some lay round the cart by the side of 
their donkeys. 

The old mother gipsy was very ill, indeed it was 
thought she was at the point of death, but that did 

11* 



126 ARE YOU FOND OF CHILDREN? 

not restrain the rest of the gang from following ou 
their reckless pursuits and light-hearted mirth. 
For some time the old woman could eat nothing 
that the gang could bring her, at last she cried out 
for grapes. 

At dead of night, when the stars were visible in 
the sky, and all was silent around, a stout young 
man gently stole away from the encampment, 
passed down the dark lane, and tearing a stake fiom 
the hedge, proceeded on his w r ay to the gentleman's 
garden. The wall was high, but he soon clam- 
bered over it ; in another minute or two he had 
found his way to the glass door of the hot-house. 

No sooner had the young gipsy placed his stake 
under the door, and wrenched it open, than a wire 
fastened to it, set a large bell at the top of the hot- 
house ringing ; turning round hastily to make his 
escape, he was confronted by two men who at that 
moment, from different directions, arrived at the 
spot. Accustomed to danger, he lost not his self- 
possession, but resolutely attacked them, when a 
blow from one of them dashed him back against 
the glass door ; in a moment, however, he again 
grappled with his opponents, and all three struggled 
for their lives. 

The ringing bell, and the jingling glass, soon 
brought half a dozen servants to the scene of con- 
tention, when the light of a lantern discovered to 
them three men throttling each other on the 
ground. 



ARE YOU FOND OF CHILDREN ? 127 

The servants dragged them asunder, and led them 
away, one by one, to different places of security for 
the night ; but what was the surprise of the culprits 
in the morning to find, when placed together, with 
their hands tied behind them, that they all belonged 
to the same gang. The old father gipsy had re- 
solved, cost what it would, to get a few bunches of 
the best grapes in the country for his dying wife ; 
and his two sons, unknown to him and to each 
other, had also formed the same resolution for the 
sake of their dying mother. 

It was a daring enterprise, and one that, under 
common circumstances, would have been visited 
with great severity ; but so pleased was the gentle- 
man with the attachment of the gipsies to their aged 
and dying relative, that, after inquiring into the 
truth of their statement, and giving them suitable 
reproof, in which he pointed out how much better 
it would have been to have made known to him the 
object they had ki view, than to break the laws of 
God and man, he pardoned their crime in admira- 
tion of their affection, sending them, away laden 
with the best grapes his hot-house would afford. 

If you have ever met with temptations, and tri- 
als, and difficulties, in obtaining what knowledge 
you possess, forget not that your scholars are ex- 
posed to the same temptations and trials, and that 
many of your difficulties with regard to the ac- 
quirement of knowledge, they have to surmount; 
this should call forth your sympathy in their be 



128 ARE YOU FOND OF CHILDREN? 

half, and bind you to them with an affectionate in- 
terest in their welfare ; and if you have met with 
forbearance and encouragement, and kindness, then 
are you doubly called upon to exercise these quali 
ties to those you teach. I hope you are fond of 
children ; I hope you are fond of Sunday scholars ; 
and I hope that you are especially fond of those 
who are under your care. 

Whenever we are disposed to "provoke one 
another to love and to good works," we never need 
stand still a single moment for a motive ; for we 
are under such immeasurable obligations to the 
Father of mercies for all his goodness to us, and 
especially for the gift of his Son, that every faculty 
of body, soul, and spirit, should be at all times 
ready to be employed in the acknowledgement of 
what we owe. " Ye know," says the apostle, "the 
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was 
rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye 
through his poverty might be rich." 2 Cor. viii. 9. 
Think it not, then, too much to do your utmost for 
your scholars, for many of them may be numbered 
here among the disciples of the Redeemer, and be 
welcomed hereafter as heirs of the kingdom of 
heaven. 



XIII. 

CAN YOU MAKE SACRIFICES? 

It is a much easier thing to give a useful hint to 
one with whose age, habits, and circumstances we 
are acquainted, than it is to offer suitable sugges- 
tions to many, whose ages, habits, and circum- 
stances are various. In the first case, we aim as it 
were with a rifle ; in the last, we fire as with a 
scattering blunderbuss. When I take up my pen 
to address- Sunday school teachers, I usually say to 
myself, many are addressed by me, but I can hardly 
hope to benefit more than a few. 

I hope that in the midst of your Sunday school 
occupations, while setting the machinery of your 
classes in motion, and attending to its details, I hope 
that you continue to ask yourselves what is the pre- 
vailing motive that Sunday after Sunday carries 
you through your duties ? Oh, it is a glorious 
thing to have a good and benevolent motive in a 
good and benevolent cause. 

If ever travelling on horseback when your poor 
jaded beast could hardly make a trot of it, you have 
baited him at the road side inn, giving him a 
draught of water and a half-peck or at least a full 
quarter, of good sound oats with a few beans in it — 
if you have ever done this, you must have remarked 



/30 CAN YOU MAKE SACRIFICES? 

how amazingly the strength and courage of the 
animal has been increased by the corn within him : 
talk of trotting! why, he would have trotted, can- 
tered, or galloped with you at once, just which you 
would, without whip or spur, for his spirit was equal 
to anything. As corn to the horse, so is a motive 
to the man. With a good motive in vigorous opera- 
tion in your hearts, you will be equal to pursue 
your object through fire and water. 

Among the many questions that I have asked 
you, the inquiry, Can you make sacrifices 1 has not, 
I think, yet been made. It is true, that, to a cer- 
tain extent, your very taking on yourselves the of- 
fice of Sunday school teachers is an answer to my 
question ; for every Sabbath day you are making a 
sacrifice, in giving time to others which might be de- 
voted more especially to your own advantage or gra- 
tification ; yet still it is very possible, that a Sunday 
school teacher may be somewhat backward to make 
sacrifices. Self-denial is a christian virtue too ex- 
cellent to be disregarded ; and self-denial cannot be 
practised without making a sacrifice. 

As I have said before, every good quality you 
get into your hearts will enable you the better to 
instruct your scholars. If you possess self-denial, 
and can make sacrifices, you will the more easily 
practise punctuality, patience, forbearance, and per- 
severance. What you do will not be done grudg- 
ingly: what time and attention you bestow, will 
be given willingly ; and in these offerings, as well 

8 



CAN YOU MAKE SACRIFICES? 131 

as in those of silver and gold, " God loveth a cheer- 
ful giver." 

When I think of a Sunday schoolteacher, I love 
to give him credit for every warm-hearted affection 
and christian grace ; to picture him out not only 
doing his duty, but doing it with alacrity ; undis- 
mayed by difficulties ; unsubdued by disappoint- 
ment, winning his way through unexpected obsta- 
cles, and running with diligence the race that is set 
before him, ready to make sacrifices, and to endure 
hardness as a good soldier fighting manfully in the 
good cause in which he is enlisted. Such an one 
will fling around and propagate his own good 
qualities, and there will be in his class a reality, 
a life, and a spirit, which otherwise will be looked 
for in vain. 

I have been casting about for the most striking 
instance on record, of men being willing to make 
sacrifices, for the good of their fellow men. Eng- 
land is famed for many virtues, but it is not among 
English people that I have found it. Though the 
instance to which I allude may be known to many 
of you, it is not likely to be known to all ; I will, 
therefore, venture to relate it. 

About five hundred years ago, Edward, then king 
of England, besieged Calais ; when the French 
inhabitants being shut up by land and water, were 
put to such great straits, that they wrote to Philip 
their monarch to say, that they had " eaten their 
horses, their dogs, and all the unclean animals they 



132 CAN YOU MAKE SACRIFICES? 

could find, and nothing remained but to eat each 
other." 

Though things had come to such a pass there 
was no relief afforded them ; so that Sir John of 
Vienne, the captain of Calais, went to the walls of the 
town, and there spoke to Sir Walter, of Manny, tel- 
ling him, that in the fulfilment of their duty they had 
stood out until they were in extremity, but that they 
were then ready to give up the place, on condition 
of being permitted to depart in safety. This was re- 
fused, for the English king, being enraged by the 
mischief done by the people of Calais, and the ex- 
pense to which he had been put by them, resolved 
to compel them to surrender, that he might put to 
death as many as he pleased, and ransom as many 
as he pleased. At last, however, he so far relented 
as to say, that on condition of six of the principal 
burgesses of the town coming out bare-headed, bare- 
footed, bare-legged, and in their shirts, with halters 
about their necks, and the keys of the town and 
castle in their hands, to be dealt with after his plea- 
sure, the rest should find mercy. 

These were hard conditions, for how was it to be 
expected that six rich citizens would offer up their 
lives for the rest ; nevertheless, six such were to be 
found. Eustace de St. Pierre was the first to come 
forward, declaring his trust in the Lord God, and 
his willingness to jeopardize his life. Whether or 
not a monument was erected to commemorate this 
generous and patriotic action I cannot tell, but I am 



CAN YOU MAKE SACRIFICES? 133 

sure there ought to have been one in Parian marble. 
Jehan D'Aire was the next, and he was followed 
by Jaques de Wisant, and Peter his brother, and 
two others, and these six notable burgesses, for the 
love they bare to their country and the city wherein 
they dwelt, went out of the gates to the English 
party, bare-headed, bare-footed, and bare-legged, in 
their shirts, and with halters round their necks, to 
save the lives of the men, women, and children of 
Calais. The English earls and barons wept for 
pity at the sight of them ; but the king ordered their 
heads to be struck off! Sir Walter, of Manny, sued 
for them in God's name ; but the king would not 
hear him, calling out for t'he hangman ; at last, the 
queen herself kneeled down to intercede for them, 
and then king Edward gave way, and spared their 
lives. • 

I know not how this matter affects you, but for 
myself I feel an unbounded sympathy and respect 
for these men. When a man talks about serving- 
his country by plunging into battle, be he in the 
ranks, or at the head of an army, he has something 
beside the love of his country to animate his cou- 
rage : he hopes to escape without injury ; and then 
there is the glory, and the prize-money he desires 
to obtain ; but these men, with the instruments of 
death ready round their necks, gave themselves up 
to their enemies to sacrifice their lives, for the wel- 
fare of their fellow men. 

Now I want this relation to be a means of calling 

12 



134 CAN YOU MAKE SACRIFICES? 

up within you a willingness, yea, a desire, to make 
sacrifices : I could blush for my own demerits in 
this respect. How long have I lived in the world, 
and how few, how very few, have been my sacri- 
fices, compared with the abundant mercies of which 
I have partaken. Why should we be outdone by 
Frenchmen in making sacrifices % 

Some years ago, Napoleon Buonaparte, who was 
then Emperor of the French, invaded Russia, with 
a great army. Ambition is never satisfied ; and if 
Napoleon had conquered Russia, no doubt he would 
still have desired to add to his possessions. Russia, 
as you know, is a very cold country, and the win- 
ters there are so severe, that those who have not 
been accustomed to such a climate cannot endure it 
without much suffering. It was Napoleon's inten- 
tion to get all his great army into the city of Mos- 
cow, where they might be snug and comfortable till 
the cold weather had gone by, and then he purposed 
to march onwards, and to take Petersburg, the cap- 
ital of the country. 

Now the Russians, finding themselves in a des- 
perate situation, determined to deliver themselves by 
a great sacrifice. They knew thai if they were to 
destroy the city of Moscow before the French got 
possession of it, that their enemies would have no 
place of shelter, and that they would, in all proba- 
bility, perish in the frost and snow. Now Moscow 
was an ancient and splendid city ; but great as the 
sacrifice would be to destroy it, they were deter- 



CAN YOU MAKE SACRIFICES? 135 

mined it should be made ; and soon they set Mos- 
cow all in flames. It burned for a long time, the 
fire raging day after day, with a broad black cloud 
of smoke ascending from the ruins. Napoleon and 
his soldiers were at their wit's end. They were 
obliged to quit Russia, but very few of them got 
back to their own country again. 

Here, again, I cannot but admire the patriotism 
and wisdom manifested on a trying occasion ; and 
though this Russian instance of making a sacrifice 
equals not the former one, in benevolence of design 
and princeliness of spirit, yet is it well calculated to 
call forth our unfeigned admiration. I want this 
recital also to be influential in persuading you to 
acts of self-denial and disinterestedness. Why 
should we be outdone by the Russians in making 
sacrifices ? 

It is not very probable that you will ever be 
called upon either to make the sacrifice of your 
lives, for the good of others, or that of your habita- 
tion and property ; but in a hundred instances sacri- 
fices may be made, and self-denial practised by you, 
to the good of your scholars and the glory of the 
Redeemer. 

Oh, what a sacrifice was that made by the Sa- 
viour of sinners, when he offered himself on the 
cross ! Surely it should make us ready, willing, 
yea, even desirous to give up our own will, to prac- 
tise largely self-denial, and to offer freely such rea- 
sonable sacrifices as are in our power, for the wel- 



136 CAN YOU MAKE SACRIFICES? 

fare of- all around us. u Greater love hath no man 
than this, that a man lay down his life for his 
friends." John xv. 13. "But God commendeth 
his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sin- 
ners, Christ died for us." Rom. v. 8. That Sun- 
day school teacher is most likely to make sacrifices 
for his scholars, who offers up to his heavenly 
Father the sacrifices required by him. " The 
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and 
a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." 
Psalm li. 17. 

The selfishness of the human heart is frightful ; 
and, on this very account, it is more necessary to 
learn to make sacrifices. Such sacrifices are for 
our good, and if made in humble acknowledgment 
of God's goodness to us, they will not be made in 
vain. You have read, that " He that hath pity on 
the poor lendeth unto the Lord ; and that which he 
hath given will he pay him again." Prov. xix. 
1 7. Now, if He, whose are the silver and the gold, 
will regard favourably the pound or the penny 
given to the poor, he is not likely unfavourably to 
regard the more costly sacrifices made by a chris- 
tian-hearted Sunday school teacher. While I pen 
down these remarks, I have in my remembrance 
the sculptured figures of a boy and girl, set up in 
front of a charity school. Often, in the days of my 
youth, did I stop to gaze upon them with pleasure. 
Under the one was the inscription, " Train up a 
child in the way he should go ; and when he is old. 



CAN YOU MAKE SACRIFICES? 137 

he will not depart from it:" and under the other, 
" We cannot recompense you, but ye shall be re- 
compensed at the resurrection of the just." 

To their credit be it spoken, there are thousands 
of Sunday school teachers who are ready to make 
sacrifices. The following quotation I make from 
one, whose sentiments I have read with respect and 
pleasure. He is speaking of a teacher, who, with 
his whole heart and soul, enters into the work of 
Sunday schools : — 

" It is no Utopian idea, that there are thousands 
of such men, to whom the return of the Sabbath 
day labours affords far sweeter exhilaration of spirit, 
than the most novel sight and pleasing excursion 
of the worldly Sabbath breaker. Such a man en- 
gages in his labour with the words of his Divine 
Master on his lips, c I delight to do thy will, O 
God.' No one drives him to his work ; his law is 
love, and love is the fulfilling of the divine law ; 
hence he may add, i thy law is within my heart.' 
He does not say, { I am a free agent, and no one 
has any control over me, I may do as little or 
as much as I like, and either work or let it alone, 
at pleasure. He has consecrated his service to 
the Lord, and his heart is as much bound to it as if 
he had made the vow of the Nazarite, not to be 
broken." 

Yes, such a Sunday school teacher as this will 
make sacrifices, and make them gladly. Where 
his work is, there he will be. He will give up 

12* 



138 DO YOU KNOW THAT KNOWLEDGE 

his enjoyments, or, rather, he will seek them 
among his scholars ; he will give up his time 
cheerfully, enduring with self-denial the crowded 
room, the hot breath of an assembled multitude, 
and the hum and bustle attendant on a youthful 
throng. He will regard his scholars with affec- 
tion, and oft-times, while his heart is with them, 
his hope will look beyond them, and he will see 
among them the white robed inhabitants of a world 
of glory, faces and forms, not unlike the forms 
and faces of those whom he has taught to read 
the word of God, and to sing the praises of the 
Redeemer. 



XIV. 

DO YOU KNOW THAT KNOWLEDGE IS NOT 
WISDOM % 

Among the many things with which you are 
acquainted, Do you know that knowledge is not 
wisdom ? Have you such a clear conception in 
this respect, that you are not likely to commit an 
error % 

I once knew two twins so much 'alike, that, 
when apart, one was often taken, or rather mistaken, 
for the other. The height, the colour of the hair 



IS NOT WISDOM? 139 

and eyes, the dimple in the cheek, and the fair fore- 
head were the same in both, so that even when they 
were seen together there was hardly any visible 
difference. As in the case of these twins so it is 
with many qualities or attainments of the mind ; 
they are mistaken for one another ; and it is thus 
with no two attainments more frequently than it is 
with knowledge and wisdom. 

But though so frequently regarded as one and' 
the same thing, it is possible to abound in know- 
ledge and be yet very deficient in wisdom. 

" Knowledge and wisdom, far from being one, 
Have oft-times no connexion. Knowledge dwells 
In heads replete with thoughts of other men ; 
Wisdom in minds attentive to their own. 
Knowledge, a rude unprofitable mass, 
The mere materials with which wisdom builds, 
Till smoothed and squared, and fitted to its place, 
Does but encumber whom it seem'd to enrich. 
Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much ; 
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more." 

I hardly know a more melancholy sight than that 
of one, who, puffed up with his knowledge, ima- 
gines himself to be wise, while all around are 
lamenting his want of judgment and consistency. 
This is bad enough in any one, but in him who 
undertakes to give instruction to others it is doubly 
to be regretted. If any of you have fallen into 
this error, well will it be, if you give neither sleep 
to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids, till you 



140 DO YOU KNOW THAT KNOWLEDGE 

have resolved to correct it : before this can be done, 
however, you must be fully convinced of your 
mistake. 

Wisdom is knowledge properly applied, or, in 
other words, the union of knowledge with judgment 
Were we to load a simpleton with learned books, 
or to teach him to repeat their contents, he would 
in neither case be wise. Whether he carried the 
books on his back, or the contents in his head, if he 
had not judgment he w r ould still be a simpleton. A 
parrot may repeat wise words, but they render the 
bird not a whit the wiser. 

Knowing, as I do, that there is hardly an error 
more common among young people than that of 
supposing they know much, because they know a 
little, and of believing themselves wise, because 
they have made some progress in knowledge, I am 
solicitous, again and again, to point out to you the 
danger you are in, in order that it. may be avoided. 
Why should you be spoiled in your youth, and the 
fair promise of a useful manhood be scattered to the 
winds ? 

The best reproof that I remember to have read 
of that foolish youthful vanity, which has led thou- 
sands astray, by pursuading them they were men 
when they were boys ; that they were wise when 
they were really ignorant, is to be found in the 
" Children's Friend." Valentine, a gentleman's 
son, who gives himself many airs on account of his 
fancied knowledge and wisdom, derides Michael, a 



IS NOT WISDOM? 141 

country lad, on account of his hard hands, and des- 
pises him and calls him a fool, because he is igno- 
rant of books, and cannot tell how big the moon is. 

Valentine, in order that his parents may imagine 
he has lost himself in a fit of study, walks into a 
wood and loses himself in reality. Night comes on, 
and he begins to cry ; for he finds that with all his 
fancied knowledge and superior wisdom, he is a 
poor forlorn, defenceless being, able neither to find his 
way out of the wood, nor to provide for his comfort 
in it during the night. In this deplorable situation 
he hears a noise, and finds to his great joy, that in- 
stead of being seized by a robber, he is accosted by 
little Michael. 

A wholesome, thorough humiliation, is a nau- 
seous medicine to take ; but for all this, it is the 
most efficacious to a mind diseased with vanity. 
Ephraim Holding speaks feelingly, for in his time 
he has fallen into many of the errors he reproves, 
errors of which he would willingly warn you, and 
from which he would yet more willingly preserve 
you 

The utter destitution of Valentine, convinces him 
of his own ignorance and folly, and the ready kind- 
hearted way in which Michael provides for his 
wants and comforts, making him a fire, and prepar- 
ing him a supper and a bed in the wood, convinces 
him that a country lad may possess more useful 
knowledge than a gentleman's son. So that he re- 



142 BO YOU KNOW THAT KNOWLEDGE 

turns home with a humble and grateful spirit, com- 
pletely cured for ever of his vanity. 

It may be supposed by some, that when an old 
man reproves a young one for vanity, there may be 
somewhat of jealousy in the case ; some fear that 
age may not receive the respect due to it, nor ex- 
perience be estimated according to its value j* but a 
little consideration will show the folly of a young 
man supposing that he is equally wise with those 
who are double his age. 

Will any young man, supposing him to be twenty 
years of age, be weak enough to admit, that during 
the next twenty years of his life, he shall make no 
progress in knowledge and wisdom? If he admits 
this, he must be weak indeed ; and if he will not 
admit it, but, on the contrary, insists that at forty he 
shall be much wiser than at twenty, how then can 
he refuse to acknowledge that those who are forty 
are wiser than he? Think of this, my young- 
friends, for, to some of you, it may prove a hint not 
altogether thrown away. Knowledge and wisdom 
are, indeed, different things. I have met with 
young people of twenty, clever at mathematics and 
the classics, who were mere children in judgment ; 
while I have known men of forty, acquainted with 
neither one nor the other, who were old men in ex 
perience and wisdom. 

The longer I live, and the stronger attachment I 
feel for holy things, the more highly do I estimate 
those who take on themselves the office of Sunday 



IS NOT WISDOM? 143 

school teachers, and this may be one reason for my 
being the more anxious that they may abound in 
attainments, in wisdom, in piety, and in humility. 
When my work is done, may yours be in progress ; 
and when my name is forgotten, may yours still be 
held in deserved remembrance. 

Did you ever reflect much on the human mind, 
that wondrous gift bestowed upon man ? We re- 
gard the human frame with attention, and observe 
how admirably adapted it is to the actions and 
functions it has to perform ; we cannot but be 
struck with it as a piece of beautiful mechanism ; 
but the mind, the infinite mind, is immeasurably 
beyond it. Oh, if I could but impress you wkh a 
due estimation of the infinite value of the mind, you 
would regard your scholars with additional in- 
terest, and delight in imparting to them sound in- 
struction. 

" High walls and huge, the body may confine, 

And iron grate obstruct the prisoner's gaze, 
And massive bolts may baffle his design, 

And vigilant keepers watch his devious ways ; 
Yet scorns the immortal mind this base control : 

No chains can bind it, and no cell inclose ; 
Swifter than light it flies from pole to pole, 

And in a flash from earth to heaven it goes. 
It leaps from mount to mount, from vale to vale, 

It wanders, plucking honey'd fruits and flowers ; 
It visits home to hear the fire-side tale, 

Or in sweet converse pass the joyous hours; 
; Ti« up before the sun, roaming afar ; 
And in its watches wearies every star " 



144 DO YOU KNOW THAT KNOWLEDGE 

This very mind, described by the poet, is the 
costly thing under your care. How wise, then, 
ought you to be to direct it, and how anxious to im 
press it, to pervade it, to fill it with knowledge, wis 
dom, virtue, and piety ! 

Having taken some pains to discriminate between 
knowledge and wisdom, T trust that you will pre- 
serve the distinction clear in your minds. A mis- 
take or misapprehension in this respect, uncorrected 
in youth, m.ay be the cause of much confusion in 
manhood and old age. May it be yours to know 
and to practise knowledge and virtue, and to attain 
that wisdom from above, which is " pure, peacea- 
ble, gentle, and easy to be entreated ; full of mercy 
and good fruits." Already has it been said by me, 
and I am not certain that my pen has not repeated 
the expression, " I hold it as an axiom, that he who, 
tied and bound with a sense of his deficiencies, looks 
above for heavenly aid, with a heart humble enough 
to feel his own ignorance, and a spirit ardent enough 
to pursue after wisdom, 

Who pants for knowledge, labouring to be free, 
And says, I will be wise — wise he will be. 

To be in love with wisdom, to seek for it as for 
hidden treasures, and to pant after it as the hart 
panteth for the water-brooks, is the case with com- 
paratively but a few; but almost all have a mode- 
rate desire to attain wisdom. " Where shall wis- 
dom be found," saith Job, " And where is the place 



IS NOT WISDOM? 145 

of understanding ?" " The mouth of the righteous 
speaketh wisdom," saith David, " and his tongue 
talketh of judgment." " Wisdom is the principal 
thing," saith Solomon, i: therefore get wisdom ; and 
with all thy getting, get understanding." " I thank 
thee and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who 
hast given me wisdom," saith Daniel. And, u If 
any of you lack wisdom," saith the apostle James, 
''•let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally 
and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." 
These passages of holy writ point out how highly 
wisdom was estimated by the servants of the Lord \ 
to attain it, then, should be the object of our desires. 

Power, wealth, and fame, on other heads may shine, 
But O, let heavenly wisdom still be mine ! 

In the pursuit of wisdom, the habit of writing 
down any remarks of a wise, useful, and profitable 
kind, that we hear or read, is a good one. You 
h#ve, very likely, met with the following directions, 
for the proper use of temporal and spiritual bless- 
ings : as to the former, " Wish for them cautiously ; 
ask for them submissively ; want them contentedly j 
obtain them honestly ; accept them humbly ; man- 
age them prudently ; employ them lawfully ; im- 
part them liberally ; esteem them moderately ; in- 
crease them virtuously * use them subserviently ; 
forego them easily ; ana resign them willingly." 
And as to the latter, " Prize them inestimably ; co- 

13 



146 DO YOU KNOW THAT KNOWLEDGE 

vet them earnestly ; seek for them diligently ; pon< 
der them frequently ; wait for them patiently ; ex- 
pect them hopefully ; receive them joyfully ; enjoy 
them thankfully ; improve them carefully ; retain 
them watchfully ; plead for them manfully ; hold 
them dependantly ; and grasp them eternally." 
The mere reading and remembering these excellent 
rules will be knowledge ; but when judgment is 
put into exercise, fully to comprehend and practise 
them, the result will be wisdom. 

As wisdom consists more in judgment than in 
memory, no wonder that wise men should be slow 
to speak : great talkers are not often remarkable 
for the soundness of their judgment or correctness 
of their opinions. The apostle James's injunction 
is, " Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak." 
Desirable as it is that every one should be wise, it 
is especially so, in the case of those who move 
among numbers. When a Sunday school teacher 
drops a wise or a foolish word, it may be picked up 
by the whole of his class, and become a means of 
much good, or of much evil. Let not this hint be 
forgotten. 

.They who desire to do good and avoid evil will 
be careful of the words they speak before others, 
especially on serious subjects. 

For the seeds that are sown, 
When we talk all alone. 
Neither injure nor benefit any ; 



IS NOT WISDOM ? 147 

But our worda in a crowd, 
Whether low or aloud, 

Are a ban or a blessing to many. 

Whatever be the amount of knowledge or wisdom 
you possess, remember that true wisdom is always 
connected with the fear of the Lord ; indeed, the 
psalmist says, " The fear of the Lord is the begin- 
ning of wisdom: a good understanding have all 
they that do his commandments." There is no bet- 
ter way for a man to cure himself of pride on ac- 
count of his wisdom, than to contemplate for a mo- 
ment the infinite wisdom of our heavenly Father in 
the great works of creation and redemption. " O 
the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and 
knowledge of God ! How unsearchable are his 
judgments, and his ways past finding out!" 

There is one question that every wise Sunday- 
school teacher will put to himself, and if every un- 
wise one were to do the same thing, it might be the 
means of calling up a profitable reflection ; it is this : 
Am I, as a teacher, keeping the main thing in 
view ? Is the glory of God, and the everlasting 
welfare of the children committed to my charge, 
the first object of my desire % He who can ask 
this question faithfully, and reply to it favorably, 
though his knowledge and wisdom be limited, has 
that within him which will outweigh all other 
qualities and qualifications. This is the thing that 
is wanted in Sunday schools ; this is a spirit that will 
alone urge on a teacher to do his best on all occa- 



148 WHAT YOU GAIN, BO YOU RETAIN? 

sions, and keep him humble, while it renders him 
wise. Were this spirit more widely diffused, and 
had teachers more abundantly that wisdom which 
seeketh direction, and which is profitable to direct, 
•then would the kingdom of the Redeemer be ex- 
tended, and our Sunday schools prosper more abun- 
dantly in the land. 



XV. 

WHAT YOU GAIN, DO YOU RETAIN? 

If there be a little oddity and quaintness in the 
above question, it is less the effect of accident than 
of design. A remark or question that possesses 
some peculiarity, is more likely to be remembered 
than another. Indeed, I lay it down as a rule, the 
result of some experience, that a remark, to secure 
the proper attention of the reader, must be either 
striking, interesting, or odd. If, then, my question 
be a little odd, so much the better. 

What you gain, do you retain ? for if it would 
be simple to try to lade a pool dry with a cullender, 
or to labour hard to fill with water a tub which 
had holes at the bottom, so it would be equally un- 
wise to give yourselves the trouble to become ac- 



WHAT YOU GAIN, DO YOU RETAIN? 149 

quainted one day, with what you allowed to escape 
from your memory the day after. 

To refresh your memory on the subject of my 
homely hints and observations, I purpose to take a 
rapid retrospect of them, and if I bring them into a 
small nutshell compass, you will find them, perhaps, 
the less burdensome to your memory. 

How are you going about it ? was my first in- 
quiry, for it appeared plain to me, that there were 
bad ways of doing good things, and that good things 
are all the easier performed, if set about in a proper 
spirit and a proper manner. . I pressed this on your 
consideration in different ways, and asked you 
whether you were merely playing at Sunday school 
teaching, or entering on your duties in real earnest. 
In the latter case, I told you that though riches 
and honors during your lives, and marble monu- 
ments in Westminster Abbey after death, were not 
to be looked for, you would, at least, be approved 
by the wise and good, possess a peaceful, approving- 
conscience, and have the warm wishes, the true re- 
spect, and the heartfelt prayer of old Ephraim 
Holding. 

Bo you learn lohile you teach ? was the next 
question I put to you : hardly can you have forgot- 
ten my account wherein I cut such a ridiculous 
figure in giving a lecture on the globes. I laid 
down two maxims, which I had from wiser heads 
than my own ; the one was that l \ He who ceases 
to learn, soon becomes unfit to teach ;" and the 
. 13* 



150 WHAT YOU GAIN, DO YOU RETAIN? 

other, that " The beginning of an address to Sun- 
day scholars should Rx their attention, the middle 
of it should interest their minds, and the end of it 
should impress their hearts." These hints, or pieces 
of advice, are well worthy of your remembrance. 

Are your scholars glad to see you ? came next in 
order ; for, however desirable it might be, that you 
should be glad to see your scholars, it was still 
more so that they should be glad to see you. I illus- 
trated my remarks by a story of Rosyposy and Net- 
tletop. These attended a masquerade, where the 
one was followed wherever he went, and the other 
avoided wherever he came ; and the conclusion 
drawn by me was this, that cheerful and kind de- 
meanour is a flower which is sure to attract young 
people, while a reserved, churlish, and severe as- 
pect is a stinging-nettle which is equally certain to 
drive them away. 

Can you hear reproof? appeared to me a neces- 
sary question to those who were so often in the 
habit of reproving others ; for 

He that instructs should stand aloof 

From selfish love of praise : 
He that reproves should bear reproof, 

And ponder well his ways. 

I told you of, a severe schoolmaster who had so 
little discrimination, that a boy who could not, 
received from him, the same punishment as a boy 
who would not ; and that on one occasion he lightly 
reproved a stubborn scholar, while he caught one, 



WHAT YOU GAIN, DO YOU RETAIN? 151 

to whom a word would have been sufficient, by the 
hair of his head, and struck him on the ribs with 
his clenched fist. A Sunday school teacher should 
certainly be a model of meekness, and a pattern of 
piety ; and he ought, also, to abound in every good 
word and work. 

Do you study the habits of young people ? was 
asked you with the sincere desire to render the 
question useful ; for I well knew that a knowledge 
of the habits of thinking, of the likes and the dis- 
likes, and of the prejudices and inclinations of chil- 
dren, would strengthen your hands, and help you 
forward in the kind-hearted enterprise you had un- 
dertaken. I made this appear plain, or at least 
tried so to do, by showing you how a knowledge of 
the habits of the lower creatures of creation ena- 
bled man to obtain an ascendancy over them, so 
that birds, beasts, and fishes were easily subdued by 
him. But the practice of studying the habits and 
dispositions of the young people you teach, appears 
to be so reasonable, that I might almost have spared 
myself the trouble of pressing it on your attention. 

Do you look backwards and forwards ? was 
another of the questions put by me, and I tried to 
encourage you to go forward in what you had un- 
dertaken by the following brief couplet, 

" Think well before you pursue it, 
But when you begin go through it." 

The great advantage of looking backwards and 



, 52 WHAT YOU GAIN, DO YOU RETAIN 'I 

forwards, was pointed out to you to be this : that it 
would enable you to correct past errors', and afford 
you encouragement in your future course. You 
may remember what was said by the sea captain, 
" We keep a sharp look out from the mast-head ; 
for when all is right to starboard, all may be wrong 
to larboard ; and when we have no breakers a-head, 
we may have a privateer astern." Sunday school 
teachers have dangers to avoid and advantages to 
secure, and should therefore look backwards and 
forwards, as sharply as sea captains. 

Are you prayerful, hopeful, and trustful ? When 
this question was put by me, I made the remark, 
that " Prayer in simple language, is, among chris- 
tian people, the act of asking God, in the Saviour's 
name, to do that for them which they cannot do for 
themselves ; and if we all had a due sense of the 
value of prayer in affording us peace, in exciting 
hope and confidence, and in strengthening our 
hands and hearts, there would not be found a 
prayerless person from Kent to Cornwall, from 
Northumberland to the Isle of Wight : and I said, 
also, that if you were not prayerful, though you 
might be fit for many avocations, you were not fit 
for a Sunday school teacher. It seems to me indis- 
pensable that you should be prayerful, hopeful, and 
trustful. 

Are you fatient and persevering ? was an en- 
quiry equally necessary with that which preceded 
it; for without patience and perseverance, a Sunday 



WHAT YOU GAIN, DO YOU RETAIN? 155 

scnool teacher would be but ill provided for the dis- 
charge of his duties. The pictures which I drew 
with my pen, of the fisherman and the hunter, 
were, as you may remember, intended to show that 
the qualities of patience and perseverance, were 
called forth by objects of a very trifling nature ; 
and that it would be your reproach to allow your- 
selves to be out-done in these qualities by the hunter 
and the fisherman. I tried to get a lesson of in- 
struction for you from the ant, the bee, and the 
bird ; and hope that I at least succeeded in creating 
in your hearts a desire to be patient and perse- 
vering. 

Do you abhor deceit ? was not asked with a 
doubt of disapproving and disliking deceit, but only 
to ascertain if you had that strong abhorrence of it, 
which the word of God appears to require. The 
instances of deceit given by me, of the young girl 
who broke her mistress's windows, and the deceitful 
servant who appeared to be afflicted with St. Vi- 
tus's dance, afforded you, I doubt not, some amuse- 
ment, and I trust, also, that they, in some degree, 
increased your abhorrence of deceit. I told you 
that the best way to quicken your perception of de- 
ceit in your scholars, would be, in a prayerful spirit, 
to keep a watch over your own hearts. 

Do you turn passing occurrences to advantage 1 
was a question illustrated by many examples, to 
show how easily circumstances might be improved 
for the good of your scholars. ' ; If a scholar come 



154 WHAT YOU GAIN, DO YOU RETAIN? 

to school early. 5 ' u If a scholar come late. 
u When the sun shines." " On a dark day." u On 
a sharp frost." " On a hot day." " When it rains." 
" After a clap of thunder." " On beginning school." 
" When the clock strikes." " To a diligent scho- 
lar ; and " To the scholars when about to re- 
turn home." All these occurrences were com- 
mented on, to show you how to proceed, in the hope 
that you might so far profit by them, as to be able 
to get more striking remarks for yourselves. If 
you were to refer back to these cases, and read 
them over again, it would not, perhaps, be time 
flung away. 

What is your stock of information ? said I, in 
my next question, for I well knew that an ignorant 
teacher was not likely to make his scholars wise. 
But remember, that of all necessary qualifications 
in a teacher, I considered to be the most necessary 
the sincere desire to benefit his scholars for time 
and eternity. I endeavoured to refresh your know- 
ledge, by running over, rapidly, the names of the 
gods of heathen nations ; the general contents of 
God's holy word ; the history of the Bible, and the 
history of your native land : and I hope I succeeded 
in not only bringing back to your memory many 
things you had forgotten, but also in exciting a de- 
sire to add to your stock of information. 

Are you fond of children! was a question that 
I was. not at all likely to omit asking ; because, 
fondness and affeclion for the young, help us won- 



WHAT YOU GAIN, DO YOU RETAIN? 155 

derfully in. our attempts to do them good. Love is 
a lever that enables us to lift many a big stone 
from our path, with which it would otherwise be 
encumbered. I thought it most likely that you 
were fond of children, and I said what I could in 
behalf of young people, to call forth and increase 
your love, in case you had not that fondness for 
them, which I gave you credit for possessing. I 
said, " Surely, if you do not love children, a little 
consideration on their helplessness, simplicity, open- 
heartedness, and teachableness, will move your af- 
fections ; and if you do love them, it will make you 
love them still better than before. 

Can you make sacrifices ? was my next inquiry, 
nor do I now think it to be an unnecessary one j 
for, as I have said before, M every good quality you 
can get into your own hearts, will enable you the 
better to instruct your scholars. If you possess 
self-denial, and can make sacrifices, you will the 
more easily practice patience, forbearance, and per- 
severance ; what you do will not be done grudg- 
ingly ; what time and attention you bestow, will 
be given willingly ; and in these offerings, as well 
as in those of silver and gold, \ God loveth a cheer- 
ful giver.' " I gave you some noble instances 
wherein sacrifices were made by human beings ; 
and I failed not to point out to you, the great sacri-* 
flee offered up for sinners, by. the Saviour upon the 
cross. 

Do you know that knowledge is not wisdom t 



156 WHAT YOU GAIN, DO YOU RETAIN? 

was the last question put to you, for I wanted you 
to have a clear distinction between that which only 
refers to the memory, and that which, has to do 
with the judgment. You were told by me, that it 
was very possible to abound in knowledge, and yet 
remain very deficient in wisdom: ana that if any 
of you had fallen into the error of supposing your- 
selves to be wise, simply because you were puffed 
up with knowledge, it would be well, if you gave 
neither sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your 
eyelids, till you had resolved to correct it. 

To allow the hours, the days, the weeks, and 
the months to pass by, and especially, the whole 
year to escape, without considerably adding to your 
knowledge and practical experience as a Sunday 
school teacher, is altogether out of the question ; yet 
how many are those who attend the house of God, 
every Sabbath day in the year, who cannot give 
an account of a single sermon they have heard. 
How this matter stands with you for the last year } 
with regard to your schools and your scholars, is a 
question worth putting to yourselves ; in the mean 
time attend a moment to the following friendly 
suggestions, drawn from what you have already 
read : — - 

In your praiseworthy course, as christian teachers, 
try to exercise a sound judgment ; lest, intending 
what is right, you do what is wrong. While you 
remember to teach others, forget not to learn your- 
selves. You may be glad to see your scholars, yet 



WHAT YOU GAIN, DO YOU RETAIN? 157 

may they not be glad to see you. You may offer 
reproof in a good spirit, and receive it in a bad one. 
You may fail to win the good will of young people 
by not studying their habits. For want of a quick 
eye, you may be met or overtaken by danger. 
Without a prayerful spirit, and a hopeful and trust- 
ful disposition, you are not likely to do much for 
the good of Sunday schools. If you have neither 
patience or perseverance, either get them, or give 
up your position as teachers. If you abhor not de- 
ceit, you will both deceive and be deceived. Im- 
prove opportunities, or opportunities will not im- 
prove you. If your stock of information be small, 
you have the more need to increase it. If you are 
not fond of children, children are not likely to be 
fond of you. Without self-denial, services are often 
selfishness. You cannot be wise, till you know 
that knowledge is not wisdom. 

Oh, that instead of these homely hints, I had 
those to offer which would be more worthy your 
attention, and more influential in moving you, as 
kind-hearted christian teachers, to a diligent and 
successful course. Such as they are, however, try 
to turn them to account, holding fast every advan- 
tage you obtain, and looking to the High and Lofty 
One, so to number your days, that you may apply 
your hearts to wisdom. Remember, that the high- 
est and the holiest" of all objects is the Redeemer's 
glory ; pursue it in a spirit of love for your fellow- 
creatures, and especially for your scholars ; that 

14 



158 A SPRIG OF HOLLY, 

when clothed with white, with palm branches in 
your hands, you stand among the multitude that no 
man can number, before the throne of the Eternal, 
voices familiar to your ears, may help you to swell 
the mighty chorus, " Blessing and honour, and 
glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the 
throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." 



XVI. 
A SPRIG OF HOLLY 

FOR A SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER. 

Christmas was, is, and I trust, ever will be, so 
long- as " the seasons roll," a cheerful time. The 
young, the middle-aged, and the old, prepare for it, 
and rejoice when it comes. Griefs are abundant in 
the world ; sorrows there are without number ; but 
this does not gainsay the general truth, that Christ- 
mas is a cheerful time. 

Oh, what a merciful provision it is on the part 
of our heavenly Father, that neither sin nor sorrow 
has banished joy from the world ! If one heart be 
oowed down, another is dancing with delight ; and 
if one habitation be the house of mourning, the next 
is filled with the sounds of rejoicing. 



A SPRIG OF HOLLY. 159 

The very name of Christmas is as music to the 
ear, sunshine to the eye, and happiness to the heart 
of the young, for it brings before them holiday and 
pleasure ; while the matured and the aged look for- 
ward with affection to the friendly groups and fami- 
y gatherings that await them. 

You see Christmas as it approaches in the ani- 
mated eye of the young ; in the increased bustle and 
business of the shops ; in the holly, the mistletoe, 
the laurel, and the lauristina for sale in the market- 
place ; and in the decorated pulpit and pews of the 
churches. You see it everywhere ; and though 
the ground be covered with snow, and the eaves are 
hung with icicles, you can almost feel the warm 
glow of the flaring fire. 

But it is not. of the well-spread feast, the happy 
guests, the flaring fire, the cheerful evergreens, the 
blithesome carol, and the happy meeting and greet- 
ing of Christmas that I am about to speak. We 
have, most of us, known these things, and may, 
perhaps, be knowing them still ; and, if so, I hope 
and trust that we are not unthankful for them, for 
we should regard these things as instances of God's 
goodness, and receive them as gifts from him. It 
is, however, of other things that I would now 
speak. 

I wish, while others are carrying symbols of the 
season, and enjoying the festivities of Christmas, to 
put a sprig of holy in the bosom, and a glow of 
gladness in the heart, of a Sunday school teacher, 



160 4 SPRIG OF HOLLY. 

Christmas is the end of the year, and is therefore a 
proper time to look back on the past. It is the 
herald of a new year, and therefore a suitable 
period to look forward to the future : let me do 
both. There is nothing gilds to-morrow with sun- 
shine, so much as a cheerful retrospect of to-day and 
yesterday. 

Believing, as I do, that Sunday school teachers 
generally, would that I could say universally, feel 
joy in the prosperity of Sunday schools, I sadly want 
to drop a few words of hearty encouragement to 
them. Words that will gather round their hearts, 
and prompt them to go though the coming year 
with increased determination, alacrity, and joy. 

There are, who think that Sunday Schools have 
not succeeded; that they have not realised what 
was expected of them ; that they have not performed 
the goodly promise of their earlier years. But 
those who hold this opinion, may have set up too 
high a standard of attainment for the present time, 
and may have expected more from Sunday schools 
than in their yet early years ought to be expected. 
The fact, however, that a multitude, almost number- 
less, have been trained up in the way they should 
go, in the hope that when old they would not de- 
part from it, is of itself, a confirmation that Sunday 
schools have been an abundant blessing. 

It is not by comparing Sunday schools with what 
we wish them to be, that we estimate them aright 
or derive encouragement : the way to know their 



A SPRIG OF HOLLY. 161 

value, is to compare the state of the rising genera 
tion now, with the state of young people before Sun- 
day schools were in existence. Is there a doubt as 
to Sunday schools being a blessing? let the almost 
unnumbered youthful worshippers that throng the 
house of God and sing the praises of the Redeemer 
every Sabbath day, scatter the doubt to the winds. 

When a victory, and especially a great victory, is 
obtained over an enemy, what a noise is made about 
it ; the news of the event flies in all directions ; the 
belis are set ringing ; the newspapers are filled with 
the account; meetings are held, speeches are made; 
flags are unfurled to flaunt in the air, and honors 
are freely bestowed. Why, look at the Sunday 
school victory ! This may with some reason be 
called a great victory ; for not merely hundreds 
and thousands, but millions have been conquered. 

Yes ! the great Sunday school victory was a 
conquest obtained over youthful millions, who, 
fighting under the banners of ignorance, were op- 
posed to Lie glory of God and the good of man- 
kind. These have been led captive ; these have 
been made wise in God's word ; they are ranked 
among his worshippers, and are now true subjects 
of the King of kings and Lord of lords ! 

And who was it that obtained this victory ? We 
know, or ought to know, that in every victory over 
ignorance, sin, and Satan, it is God alone who 
teaches " our hands to war, and our fingers to fight," 
to him, then, be the glory ; but under him this vic- 

14* 



162 A SPRIG OF HOLLY. 

tory has been won, mainly, by the efforts of Sun- 
day school teachers, who, Sabbath after Sabbath; 
have advanced to the attack. They have endured 
the heat and burden of the day ; they have stood 
up bravely in a noble cause ; they have fought a 
good fight, and they have won a great victory. 

Are you a Sunday school teacher, and can you 
think of this without a grateful heart ? Can you 
reflect on the amount of ignorance, idleness, profli- 
gacy, blaspheming, and Sabbath breaking that has 
been done away, and the knowledge, the industry, 
the good habits, and the piety, that . have abounded 
among those who were brought up in Sunday 
schools ? Can you reflect on these things without 
rejoicing that you have been a teacher ? I hope 
not. I hope, and trust, the remembrance that you 
have been one among the many in the hands of 
God, who have so largely contributed to this 
happy change, will be to you at this Christmas- 
time, as a cordial to your heart and a sprig of holly 
in your bosom. 

There are two ways of being useful to young 
people ; the one is to teach them what is right, and 
the other, to keep them from what is wrong. These 
two ways of usefulness are continually being prac- 
tised by Sunday school teachers. Of all days in 
the week, the most evil can be done on*a Sunday ; 
because it being a day of rest, so many people of 
bad habits are unemployed ; of all days in the 
weekj the most good may be obtained on a Sunday, 



A SPRIG OF HOLLY. 163 

for then the house of God is oj^n, and Christians 
meet together to be instructed, reproved, and en- 
couraged in holy things, and to join in prayer and 
praise to our heavenly Father, t^hese things be- 
ing so, what an advantage then, that Sunday should 
be spent as it now is, by Sunday school teachers, and 
Sunday school scholars. Christmas is just the time 
to think cheerfully of Sunday schools, that while 
the carol singer is chanting his accustomed song, 
you may with a buoyant spirit join him in the 
heart-enlivening strain, 

Hark ! the herald angels sing, 
Glory to the new-born King : 
Peace on earth and mercy mild, 
God and sinners reconciled. 

And have you avoided no evil, think you, in be- 
ing occupied Sabbath after Sabbath, at your school ? 
Have you secured no good for yourself while im- 
parting what is good to others 1 Who can tell how 
largely you might have gone into error, and how 
little you might possibly have known of the truths 
of the Gospel, had you not been a teacher % The 
lessons of instruction in which you. and your scho- 
lars have been engaged, the prayers you have put 
up together, and the sermons you have heard in 
each other's company, may have been as great a 
benefit to you as to them. Here, then, is a fresh 
cause for thankfulness, that while you have been 
watering the young plants in the garden of God, 



.64 A SPRIG OF HOLLY. 

you have been watered also ; and that while they 
have budded, you have, also, blossomed and borne 
fruit to the glory of the Redeemer. If this be not 
a cause of joy^o you, it ought to be so ; I trust it 
is, and that at this season of general rejoicing, your 
soul is magnifying the Lord, and your spirit rejoic- 
ing in God your Saviour. 

At Christmas, the great yearly clock is about to 
be again wound up, and the pendulum of time may 
go on swinging to and fro, for twelve months more 
without stopping. If we should be asked what we 
have been about during the past year ? If an ac- 
count were required of the hours, the minutes, and 
the moments which are gone, it might be a very 
difficult thing to some of us to give a satisfac- 
tory reply ; and in such a case, a Sunday school 
teacher may, with some satisfaction, point to his 
Sabbath employment. This part of time has, cer- 
tainly, been devoted to good ; this precious portion 
of the year, has, at least, been profitably spent. Has 
this ever occurred to your thoughts? If not, think 
of it now, and think of it with cheerfulness and joy. 

Christmas is the time to make up the accounts of 
the year, to strike a balance of our concerns, and a 
fearful balance this is to many. We are indebted 
for countless mercies from January to December. 
Three hundred and sixty-iive days of continued 
protection, provision, temporal benefits, and spiritual 
blessinos. What is there for which we can claim 
credit? We have plenty of idle thoughts, light- 



A SPRIG OF HOLLY. 165 

minded words, and useless deeds. We have enough, 
and more than enough of waste of time, neglect of 
prayer, forgetfulness of God's word and will, and 
unimproved opportunities of doing good ; but what 
have we to put down, that may be said to be to the 
credit of our account. 

• Now, if as a Sunday school teacher, you can 
honestly take credit " for fifty-two Sabbaths of hum- 
ble and imperfect, but of sincere and hearty endea- 
vours to benefit the children under my care," — if, I 
say, you can make such an entry as this in your 
account, be thankful for the goodness of your hea- 
venly Father, for it will be an entry that thousands 
and tens of thousands are not able to make. He 
w T ho can render a good account of his Sabbaths, 
has reason, indeed, to rejoice that the Father of mer- 
cies has moved his mind to do good, and stretch- 
ed out his hand to keep him from evil. 

Think not that I am offering undue praise ; 
that I am poisoning you with the breath of flattery, 
and trying to inflate your little efforts, and make 
you proud. It becomes you, as it becomes all, to 
be humble ; for after all you have done, or can do, 
though you should double your diligence, you 
would be still on the whole, but an unprofitable ser- 
vant — a sinner, that without a Saviour," would be 
lost. What I wish to do, is, not to make you 
boast, but to call forth your thankfulness. I want 
you to be encouraged to " drink of the brook by the 
way," and to hold up your head. As the milk- 



166 A SPRIG OF HOLLY. 

maid blithely sings at her work, so should you ex- 
ult in your Sabbath teaching. Look backwards, 
then, with gratitude, and forwards, with hope and 
rejoicing ; for this is the Christmas sunshine that I 
wish you to feel in your heart ; this is the sprig of 
holly that I would put in your bosom. 

How many are there who keep a kind of open- 
house at Christmas ; feasting their friends, supply- 
ing the wants of the poor, and making the season a 
jubilee of joy. May all such as find pleasure in 
making others happy, be blessed in their basket and 
their store, in their going out and their coming in, 
from this day henceforth and for ever. 

" Blessed is he that considereth the poor ; the 
Lord will deliver him in time of trouble ;" but the 
charities of Christmas, are too often confined to the 
comforts of the body, that body which will moulder 
in the grave, while the soul that shall live through 
eternity is disregarded. You may not be able to 
feast your friends, it may not be in your power to 
do much for the poor, but if you still continue your 
services at the Sunday school, in a humble, depen- 
dant, and trustful spirit, again I say, be thankful and 
rejoice. To teach your scholars to read God's 
word, bringing them up in the love and practice 
of piety, is an act of christian charity, far greater 
than that of spreading a table with dainties for 
y )ur friends, or giving of your goods to feed the 
poor. 

It is an excellent rule in all our undertakings, 



A SFRIG OF HOLLY. 167 

to look to the end : now the festivities of Christmas 
are soon over, and only leave us the remembrance 
of a few happy hours ; they neither teach us to be 
patient in sorrow, nor to be grateful in joy ; they 
impart no yearnings to lead useful lives, or to die 
peaceful deaths. Pleasant as they are, and delight- 
ful as it is to witness open-heartedness, liberality, 
charity, and happiness, still, Christmas festivities 
do nothing towards mending our errors in this world, 
or brightening our hopes of another. For this 
reason, I w T ant you to look to other sources for sat- 
isfaction, to see the end of your own acts, and to judge 
aright of the value of your own services at the 
Sunday school. If you consider them aright, they 
will rise in your estimation. You will be in love 
with your sabbath duties ; you will bless God for 
his goodness, and rejoice that he has made you a 
Sunday school teacher. 

To lead a useful life, and to die a peaceful death, 
in the sure and certain hope of a glorious immor- 
tality, is worth more than a thousand such worlds 
as this could give. As an humble-minded Sunday 
school teacher, looking for heavenly aid, you are 
securing the one, and are in the high road to the 
attainment of the- other. Go on with confidence, 
enter on your duties of the approaching year with 
thankfulness and joy, for another year you may not 
see. 



" Another year, another year, 
O ! who shall see another year 7 



168 A SPRIG OF HOLLY. 

Shalt thou, old man of hoary head, 
Of eye-sight dim, and feeble tread 1 
Expect it not ! time, pain, and grief, 
Have made thee like an autumn leaf, 
Ready, by blast, or self-decay, 
From its slight hold to drop away — 
And some sad morn may gild thy bier, 
Long, long before another year ! 

" Another year, another year, 
O! who who shall see another year? 
Shall you, ye young 1 or you, ye fair 1 
Ah! the presumptuous thought forbear! 
Within this church-yard's peaceful bounds — 
Come, pause and ponder o'er the mounds ! 
Here beauty sleeps — that verdant length 
Of grave contains what once was strength, 
The child, the boy, the man, are here ; 
Ye may not see another year !" 

Think over what I have said, and let not Christ- 
mas " merry Christmas ;" drive it from your mind. 
Be as cheerful as those around you, and as thank- 
ful for all the good that Christmas can bestow, but 
forget not that you are a Sunday school teacher ; be 
happy and make your scholars happy too, if you 
can ; but keep their minds, and your own, on a 
higher object; be not content with happiness here, 
but aim at happiness hereafter. I have now fin- 
ished my remarks, and am trying to fancy, that I 
see you looking backwards with thankfulness, and 
forwards with hope and joy, with a gleam of sun- 
shine in your heart, and a sprig of red-berried holly 
in your bosom. 



HOMELY HINTS TO THE AGED. 

In some countries it is an easy matter to form an 
acquaintance with strangers, but in England it is 
not so : strangers look at each other here, in a way 
rather calculated to freeze the affections than to thaw 
the friendly feelings of the heart into utterance. 
But though this may be, nay, indeed is, the case 
nine times out of ten when strangers meet, there 
is no reason at all why it should be the case with 
us. It would be ridiculous in Ephraim Holding to 
shift his position, to twirl his fingers, to hem and 
cough, and talk about the weather, when he sees 
around him fellow-pilgrims, whose brows are fur- 
rowed deeply as his own ; who, like him, have en- 
dured the cares of this world, and are looking to the 
joys of a better. No, no, my friends, here is my 
hand. If we mean no evil, why should we fear to 
speak % 

Often do I idle my time in wishing for a wiser 
head, a sounder judgment, and a longer purse, to en- 
able me to follow out the warm wishes of my heart, 
when I ought to be putting to the best use what 
qualities and means I already possess, for the bene- 
fit of those around me ; but man is a poor, weak, 
vain, self-sufficient being ; princely in his desires. 

15 



170 HOMELY HINTS TO THE AGED. 

and pauper-like in his deserts. Here am I under- 
taking to look after your hearts, when no heart 
that beats requires more looking after than my 
own. 

The world appears a different place to us, from 
what it did fifty summers ago — do you not find it 
so ? We are not disposed to join in every wild- 
goose chase, as we used to do ; a less hurry, a little 
more quiet, are desirable : and if we have found out 
that " all is not gold that glitters ;" that the attain- 
ment of our earthly objects have not made us quite so 
happy as we expected, we have, I trust, been taught 
also, something of the wisdom " which is better 
man the merchandize of silver, and the gain thereof 
than fine gold." This is, indeed, " more precious 
than rubies," nor are all the things we can desire 
to be compared with it. Time has been when we 
have striven hard for earthly honours, but now we 
are more anxious for Christian graces ; and can 
each of us put up the prayer — 

Thou, who art wont thy servant to uphold, 

His melting breast with ecstacy to fill, 
When pondering on thy mercies manifold — 

Thou who hast blest me always, bless me still ; 

Grant me a faith that trouble cannot kill ; 
Patience, while wandering through this desert drear ; 

Desires that bend obedient to thy will ; 
A spirit humble, and a heart sincere ; — 
Grant me thy grace, O God ! my fainting soul to cheer. 

You see, my friends, that I take it for granted 



HOMELY HINTS TO THE AGED. 171 

you are among those whose faces are turned hea- 
venward. If I thought myself mistaken in this, 
my heart would ache for you indeed. If there be 
one sight on earth more lamentable than another, it 
is that of an old man approaching the grave, with- 
out a hope beyond it. 

The pains, and infirmities, and sorrows of age are 
not always borne patiently, even by godly men ; 
how the ungodly endure them is a puzzle to me. 
It is hard work to give up health and good spirits, 
and the things that make life so dear to us ; but we 
must not be down-hearted about the matter. In 
crossing a river, the further we go from the green 
trees on one side, the nearer we draw to the green 
fields on the other ; and, as the enjoyments of time 
grow dim to us, the glories of eternity should 
brighten in our view. 

It would not become aged Christians to be un- 
thankful, because some of the good things they have 
enjoyed are over ; this would be like asking a bles- 
sing before a banquet, and neglecting to return 
thanks after it. Let us rather go on u singing of 
mercy" all our days, grateful for blessings while 
we have them, and, when they are gone, grateful 
that we have had them. 

Do you find your time, now and then, hang 
heavy on your hands ? Do you feel a fancy that 
sometimes your young friends neglect you ? Is 
your morning cough a little troublesome ? Do you 
know what a smart twinge of the rheumatism means? 



l72 homely hints to the aged. 

Have you cold feet ? and does an occasional cramp 
make you cry out ? Well, well ! do not think that 
ihese things are against you. No ; they are gentle 
admonitions, merciful remindings of your heavenly 
Father, that you are drawing nearer your eternal 
inheritance. These are among- the u all things," 
that work together for the good of the followers of 
the Redeemer ; and the keeping back one of them 
would be withholding a mercy. To receive grate- 
fully, and endure patiently, are especial privileges 
of the Christian ; and, if he can also trust undoubt- 
ingly, he is armed from head to heel, and the world, 
the flesh, and the devil, shall assail him in vain. 

I find it a much easier thing; to talk about Chris- 
tian graces than to practise them ; much easier to 
tell others what they should do, than to do it my- 
self. While urging others to submission to God's 
decrees, I feel a rebellious heart beating in my bo- 
som ; and, at the very moment that I exhort them 
to a holy courage, I am often shaking in my shoes 
with guilty and unchristian fears. Is this the case 
with you ? It is a good thing to compare notes, 
now and then, that we may help, and comfort, and 
encourage one another on our pilgrimage. It is an 
excellent thing, too, to aim at coming up to the full 
proportion of the Christian's character. 

In all the pleasures and the pains 

That anxious mortals know, 
He hears a voice that cries aloud, 

" Go forward, pilgrim ! go ! • 






XY HINTS TO THE AGED. 17! 



With girded loins and sandal'd feet, 

Thy staff within thy hand, 
Go forward, pilgrim, on thy w T ay, 

And find a heavenly land." 

Does the Bible become more and more precious 
to you 1 and does it afford you more and more 
consolation ? Do you cry out with a more ferven. 
energy. " Open thou mine eyes, that I may be 
hold wondrous things out of thy law?" and dr 
you feel that ; ' the law of the Lord is perfect, con 
verting the soul ; the testimony of the Lord is sure, 
making wise the simple ; the statutes of the Lord are 
right, rejoicing the heart?" It should be so, and I 
hope it is so. I have met with many who knew 
too little about their Bibles ; but I never yet fell in 
with one who knew too much. You will think 
that I am preaching you a long sermon; but it is 
a failing of mine, when I get into conversation, to 
keep on prosing longer than I should do : this is not 
the only infirmity that you will have to bear with in 
Ephraim Holding. 

The other day I called on my friend Thomas 
Baxter, who has about as many grey hairs on his 
head as I have. We went back to the days of our 
boyhood, when we were schoolfellows. We spoke 
of our losses and crosses, and consoled one another 
that they were passed by. We compared the past 
with the present, and humbly and hopefully looked 
forward to the future. Thomas Baxter has an af- 
fectionate heart in his bosom, and it seemed. to warm 

15* 



174 HOMELY HINTS TO THE AGED. 

within him while we talked together. He took me 
round his garden, and into his summer arbour. He 
showed me his books, of which he seemed very- 
fond : and, among others, one carefully covered 
over with a cartridge paper cover ; but this gave 
me no pleasure, because I saw his old Bible lying 
on the table, without any cover at all, and a heap 
of things piled upon it. 

" I tell you what, Mr. Baxter," said I, having 
taken off the cover to look at the binding, " this is 
a good book, and very handsome, especially the 
back of it here, where the title is printed in gold 
letters ; but why do you keep it up so close in. 
your book-case ? It would look very well on that 
table, with your daughter's work-box, and the 
snuffer-tray, and other matters, placed properly 
upon it." 

"The work-box and snuffer-tray!" said he, 
opening his eyes wider than before ; " not for the 
world ! I have too muoh respect for the^ giver of it 
to use it in that way. ' Love me, love my dog,' 
Mr. Holding ; if we really love our friends, Ave 
shall be sure to value their gifts." 

c i I am glad to hear you say so," replied I, 
" for sure I am that you love the Almighty Giver 
of this blessed book," putting my hand on his old 
Bible. 

Now, Thomas Baxter was too sensible and 
kind-hearted a man to feel offended at the freedom 
of my remark ; so he cleared away the heap of 



HOMELY HINTS TO THE AGED. 175 

things from his Bible, and, taking me by the hand, 
and giving it a hearty squeeze, said, " Friend Hold- 
ing, if ever you see my Bible in such a trim again, 
tell me that I have no love for it." 

I must confess myself to be a little whimsical in 
these things. I love the arm-chair in which my 
father sat, for my father's sake ; and, for the same 
reason, I value an old pair of spectacles, which 
once belonged to my mother. You may tell me 
this is a weakness ; but if you do, I shall not 
value these things a whit the less : and I love, too, 
to see the Bible treated with reverence, and not 
made a seat to sit on, a step to stand on, nor a 
mere pedestal to show off a work-box and a snuffer- 
tray. 

I saw but this one thing at Thomas Baxter's 
that seemed out of order. If he were to call on 
me, most likely he would see many things requir- 
ing a sharper reproof than his unintentional neglect 
of his Bible. 

But, come, I may be wearying you with my ob- 
servations : now the ice is once broken between us, 
we shall, perhaps, get a little more free with each 
other. Tell me frankly what you see in me that is 
amiss, and I will strive to amend it ;, in the mean- 
time, forget not that you have a friend in Ephraim 
Holding. 



HOMELY HINTS TO MOTHERS. 

If kindness is to be found on earth it is among 
women ; and if in one heart more than another, in 
the heart of a mother. 

A happy and well-regulated family — and none 
that are ill-regulated can be happy — is a delightful 
object to gaze on : the obedience of the servants, 
the tractability of the children, the neatness and 
comfort of the dwelling, from top to bottom, what 
is it all owing to ? Why, to the mother, the mis- 
tress of the household. She is the light and the 
life, the eye, the band, yea, the very soul of the 
establishment. Come home when he will, the 
good man meets with a smile, a cheerful habita- 
tion, and a clean hearth. The father, as the head 
of the family, may be the most important abroad ; 
he has to provide the u ways and means ;" his are 
the weightier cares ; but within doors the mother is 
the very centre of the domestic circle. 

How anxiously she watches the sleeping infant ! 
How sweetly she instructs the kneeling child in 
his morning and evening prayer ! How forbear- 
ingly she endures the pettishness, the waywardness, 
the wilfulness of youth! How mildly she rebukes 
and how lovingly she reconciles the angry and 
quarrelsome. Again, I say, that the mother, the 



HOMELY HINTS TO ^OTHERS. 177 

mistress, is the light, the life, the eye, the hand, and 
the soul of a well regulated family. 

But do not think that Ephraim Holding is heart- 
less enough to become a flatterer ! No ; he will 
speak plain truths, for what would he get by de- 
ceit % Affectionate, and prudent, and pious mo- 
thers, are all, and more than all that I have said ; 
nor have I words wherewith sufficiently to do them 
honour ; but all mothers are not affectionate, and 
prudent, and pious. Thousands have some of these 
qualities, but it is the union of them all that makes 
a mother what she should be. You must let me 
talk with you freely. I know that you have many 
and constant solicitudes, and I feel that you are en- 
titled to kindness, respect, and high estimation ; but 
these things will not withhold me from a few 
friendly remarks. 

I have known mistresses who have been high 
and haughty, requiring from servants more than 
what is reasonable ; wives who have been ex- 
travagant, disorderly, and provoking, foolishly 
striving for the mastery ; mothers who have been 
careless, injudiciously indulgent, and partial. 

Mind, if Ephraim Holding plays the archer, if 
he draws the bow at a venture, he wounds no one 
willingly. His shaft is not pointed by severity, nor 
poisoned with ill-nature. 

How do you behave to your servants? Are you 
satisfied with your own conduct towards them? 
Do you sufficiently consider that you are quite as 



178 HOMELY HINTS TO MOTHERS. 

dependent on them for comfort, as they are on you 
for support ? Are you interested in their welfare, 
and do you try to mitigate their little troubles'? 
And, more than all, do you look upon them as fel- 
low-creatures, fellow-sinners, and fellow-pilgrims to 
a better world ? Do you try to render them happy 
on earth, and endeavour to help them on their way 
to heaven? 

How do you behave to your husbands ? Are 
you helpmates to them in the best sense of the 
word % Do you study their comfort, consult their 
tastes, clear their cloudy brows, bear with their 
testy humours, and encourage them in their hea- 
venly course % 

How do you behave to your children ? Do you 
watch over your own heart in forming their char- 
acters ? Do you pull up the loathsome weeds that 
grow in their bosoms, and plant the lovely flowers 
that will adorn their lives % Do you check every 
evil, foster all that is good, and teach them that 
all they can learn will be worthless, unless they 
learn to u remember their Creator in the days of 
their youth ?" These are straight-forward ques- 
tions, but I want you not to answer them to me ; 
answer them to your own hearts. 

In my calls the other day I met with some lovely 
instances of affection, prudence, and piety, in domes- 
tic life, and some wherein these qualities are not so 
conspicuous. Two or three of the latter shall be 
described — not that I like shadows better than sun- 



HOMELY HINTS TO MOTHERS. 179 

shine, but that you may avoid the errors that at- 
tracted my attention. 

Yet, who am I, that I should dwell for a moment 
on the infirmities of my fellow-sinners ? I, who 
have as many infirmities in my heart, as I have 
grey hairs on my head ! 

I called on Mrs. Brownlow at an unfortunate 
moment, for she, not knowing that I had entered 
the house, was rating one of her maids in a very 
unfeeling way, because the girl was disabled by 
sickness from doing her work properly. " You 
shall pack off to the hospital," said she, u or home 
to your mother." I am afraid Mrs. Brownlow 
has a lesson or two to learn, that can only be 
taught her in the school of affliction ; but perhaps 
something had ruffled her temper, and I judge her 
too harshly. 

I had not seen Mrs. Simmons for some time, 
and it might have been better had I not called just 
when I did, for, while waiting a minute in the 
sitting-room, Mr. Simmons left the house, evidently 
in anger. I heard a few words that passed before 
he went. " This is always the case," said he, petu- 
lantly, "though I particularly requested you this 
time to attend to it." " Do not make yourself angry 
about such a trifle," said Mrs. Simmons ; " it may 
be done in a minute." "Trifle as it is," replied 
Mr. Simmons, u you knew that doing it would add 
to my comfort, and that neglecting it would give 
me pain i" 



180 HOMELY HINTS TO MOTHERS. 

What the neglect might be I know not ; per- 
haps it was as Mrs. Simmons said, a mere trifle, 
and perhaps Mr. Simmons is a little whimsical and 
hasty ; but, however this might be, if it could have 
been done " in a minute," to say the least of it, it 
was neither kind nor prudent in Mrs. Simmons to 
neglect it. 

Mrs. Rollins appeared as glad to see me as if I 
had come from a far country ; but somehow, her 
two children required so much of her attention, to 
manage them, that it a little interfered with the com- 
fort of my call. First, she had to stroke down their 
hair, which certainly was rather rueful ; then to 
drag them forward to me, as unwillingly on their 
part, as if I had been their schoolmaster. " Why 
don't you make a bow to the gentleman ?" said she ; 
" I am quite ashamed of you. Where have you 
been, and what have you been doing, to rumple 
your collars so ? Charles, keep your fingers out 
of your mouth. Robert, hold up your head." 
Then I was treated with hearing both of them make 
a vain attempt to repeat some verses, which she as- 
sured me they could say very prettily. In my next 
call I may drop a word or two that may be useful. 
Had the poor lads been taught to make a bow when 
a stranger came in, to keep their fingers out of their 
mouths, to hold up their heads, to avoid rumpling 
their frills, and to repeat what they learnt correctly, 
it would not have been necessary to have gone 
through so. much drilling in my presence. Mrs, 



HOMELY HINTS TO MOTHERS. 181 

Rvliirib seems, however, to be an affectionate pa- 
rent ; and, though I could not admire her manage- 
ment of her children, I did admire the love she 
manifested for them. 

I looked in on Mrs. Horton, too, and sat down to 
dinner in a plain way ; but her son Harry tried my 
patience a little. Not that it was Harry's fault — O 
no ; it was the fault of his mother. Before I had 
been in the house five minutes, turning round ra- 
ther suddenly, I caught Harry making a face at 
me. Now, I like young folks to be full of life and 
merriment, and thought but little of Harry's prank, 
though it was by no means approved of; but his in- 
dulgent mother fairly tittered again, saying, u That 
is one of the drollest boys in the world." With 
such encouragement as this, no wonder that Harry 
pulled another face at me soon after. While Mr. 
Horton reverently asked a blessing at the dinner- 
table, Harjy spread out his hands and kept slowly 
shaking his head, mimicking his father ; for which, 
I naturally expected his mother, who saw him, 
would send him away from table ; instead of which, 
turning to me, she said, " Is he not a droll boy V 1 
I felt sorry that • serious father and mother should 
be so blind to the sad consequences that some day 
must follow their injudicious treatment of young- 
Harry. W T hen the fowls were cut up, Harry stuck 
his fork in the wing of one of them, and held il 
above his head. " Put it down this minute, you 
droll boy," said Mrs. Horton. Harry, however, 

16 



182 HOMELY HINTS TO MOTHERS. 

was not easily persuaded to do this, for he saw that 
his mother was laughing. When he replaced the 
wing on the dish, Mrs. Horton observed to me in a 
whisper loud enough to be heard by every one at 
the table, " I do think he is the most comical 
boy that ever was born." 

Harry had not been out of the room ten minutes, 
after dinner, before a noise was heard in the 
kitchen. While the two maidservants were hav- 
ing their dinner, Harry had half emptied the vine- 
gar cruet in the plate of the one, and pulled off the 
cap of the other. The girls were, of course, not a 
little angry ; when Mrs. Horton told Harry that 
she would not have such pranks played with the 
servants. " But, bless you," said she, turning to 
me, in Harry's hearing, " he can no more help it 
than I can help breathing — he is of so comical a 
disposition." I took an opportunity of pointing 
out, in as kind a way as I knew how, my mind on 
such comicality ; but I saw that Mrs. Horton was 
far from being pleased with me. Poor lady, she is 
rearing a thistle whose points will get stronger and 
sharper every day. She is stuffing a pillow with 
thorns, that will, by and by, affect her head and her 
heart. 

Mothers ! mothers ! you have cares enough with 
the most tractable children ; what a pity it is that 
yc ir ill-timed indulgence should in any case add to 
the \\ Q ight of your solicitude ! But. if I go on at 
this rate you will think Ephraim Holding a 



HOMELY HINTS TO FATHERS. 183 

spy in the camp, an interloper, a listener, a talker 
of scandal. No, no ; I should hate myself if I 
deserved such a suspicion. Not willingly would I 
trespass on the peace of any one : to see a family 
living in harmony is a delight to me : but if there 
be one member more than another that I honour, 
and that I should regret to wound, it is an affection- 
ate, a prudent, and a pious mother. 



HOMELY HINTS TO FATHERS. 

The longer Ephraim Holding lives in the world, 
the more is he convinced of the advantage of plain 
speaking, whenever anything is to be said likely to 
do good. He has spoken plainly to mothers, and 
now he will do so to fathers also. 

There is that in the name of father that disposes 
me to pay respect. Show me the father who desires, 
in the midst of his manifold infirmities, to be a guide 
or protector, and an affectionate counsellor to his 
family ; to promote their welfare in this world, and 
to lead them to a better ; show me, in a word, a 
God-fearing, affectionate father, and I will respect 
and honour him, whether he dwell in a lordly 
mansion, or a straw-roofed cottage. 

In whatever light I look at a father, I always re- 



184 HOMELY HINTS TO FATHERS. 

gard him as the pivot on which the whole domestic 
concern moves ; the house-band, the corner-stone 
that binds the edifice together ; the roof-tree of the 
family habitation. If the father be not looked up 
to, there is something deficient in his head ; and if 
he be not loved, there is a string out of tune in his 
heart. Make the best of the matter you can, and 
after all, if the father plays a second part, there 
must be an infirmity in his body or his mind — in his 
judgment or his affections. 

I know this is plain speaking and plain dealing, 
but not a whit the less worth attending to on that 
account. Ephraim Holding has told you before, 
that he loves to see things in order ; and there can 
be no order when persons or things are out of their 
proper places. If I were to paint a family por- 
trait, the father should stand erect in the centre, the 
wife should lean upon him lovingly, the children 
should gaze on him with affection, and the faces of 
the servants should manifest respect. 

There is something of an ennobling character in 
this position, whose influence every father ought to 
feel. It is not the idle vanity, the poor pitiful pride, 
that a little brief authority too often excites in a weak 
mind, that I would provoke; but a sense of honour- 
able responsibility, that calls forth the best energies of 
a man, and prompts him to apply them to the best 
purposes. 

Many a good wife has fallen into the mistake of 
striving to get the mastery, considering it a kind of 



HOMELY HINTS TO FATHERS. 185 

credit to her- — a plume of feathers in her cap — to 
rule her husband. Now, Ephraim Holding is not 
the man to keep back any honour that can be 
paid to a good wife, but he dares not give more 
than God allows. The word of God is a better 
guide in these matters than our poor opinions. 
Ephraim will give a text or two that seems to put 
the matter beyond all doubt, as to whether the hus- 
band or the wife should be the head of the family. 
In the Old Testament it is written thus of the wife 
— " Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he 
shall rule over thee ;" and in the New Testament 
are the words, " The husband is the head of the 
wife, even as Christ is the Head of the church :" 
" Wives, submit yourselves unto your own hus- 
bands." Now, if as many texts can be found in 
Holy Scripture, setting forth the contrary opinion, 
then will Ephraim Holding acknowledge that he is 
too great a stickler for the point which he has not 
sufficient authority to maintain. 

Fathers ! your post is the head of your family : 
but if, instead of affectionate guides, you become 
tyrannical rulers, you are unworthy the honourable 
position in which God, in his wisdom, has placed 
you. Ephraim Holding would willingly raise you 
to honour ; but if you abuse it by pride, tyranny, 
injustice, cruelty, and unreasonableness to your 
wives, he would be the first. to rebuke you. " Love 
your wives," as husbands ; love them for their 

16 # 



186 HOMELY HINTS TO FATHERS. 

sakes and your own ; and, as fathers, love them for 
the sake of your children. 

As a bird beat about by the tempest finds an asy- 
lum in his downy nest, so should a father find a 
refuge from care and anxiety, in the peaceful bosom 
of his family. 

Wrangling and jangling, of any kind, is bad 
enough ; but of all wrangling and jangling, that be- 
tween a husband and wife is the worst. What an 
unnatural sight it would be, could we behold the 
members of the same body violently opposing each 
other ; the tongue railing against the foot, the heart 
burning against the head, the teeth tearing the 
arms, and one hand wrenching and grappling with 
the other. And are not man and wife one ? Is it 
not written, " And they twain shall be one flesh V 1 
Again I say, as husbands, love your wives, and. as 
fathers, love vour children. 



your 



But let me ask, with all the kindly feeling of a 
friend, how you are bringing up your children? 
This is a point in which we ought to be honest and 
faithful in our observations, because it is a weak 
point with many of us. Eli of old, was a good 
man ; but what was his sin ? — u His sons made 
themselves vile, and he restrained them not." 
Happy is that father who can say, in the integrity 
of his heart, " I have neither ruled my children 
with a rod of iron, nor allowed them to do evil 
without restraining them." It is by no means an 



HOMELY HINTS TO FATHERS. 187 

easy thing to " train up a child in the way he 
should go." 

The persons who think themselves best qualified 
to bring up children, are usually those who have 
no children to bring up. They would do this and 
that, if they had a son or a daughter ; and such 
and such things they would never allow. Alas ! 
a father's affection often leads him sadly astray, 
blinding his eyes when he should see clearly, and 
warping his judgment from that unbending stan- 
dard it ought to assume. But though instances are 
too often seen of diligent, moral, and pious parents 
having idle, immoral, and infidel children, let us not 
be swift to conclude, on this account, that good ex- 
ample is of little avail. 

In these instances it will generally be found 
that, notwithstanding the diligence, the morality, 
and the piety of the parents, they have been culpably 
negligent of some duty that they ought to have per- 
formed. They have done nothing, perhaps, which 
they ought not to have done, but they may have 
left undone much that they ought to have done. 

Fathers, be not weary in training up your young 
olives ; be not satisfied till they bud, and blossom, 
and bear fruit. Let them see nothing m you to 
avoid; and everything to imitate. Be not content 
in pointing out to them the road to heaven, but walk 
before them in the way that leads to everlasting 
life. 

There is joy, an inexpressible delight, thaf 



188 HOMELY HINTS TO FATHERS. 

gathers round the heart of a pious parent when he 
sees his children walking in the ways of the God 
of their fathers, and acting an upright and an hon- 
ourable part among mankind ; and there is a joy, too, 
for the pious parents of pious children, when those 
children are taken away. 

" Parents, reflect ! reflect and weep no more ! 

To you the precious privilege is given, 
Better than adding thousands to your store, 

Of adding angels to the host of heaven." 

O that Ephraim Holding could make the heart 
of every father glow with the desire that his chil- 
dren, as slips of his right hand-hand planting, might 
nourish and bloom in the paradise of God ! 

Oliver Honton was a thoughtless school-fellow 
of mine. He was well brought up, married happi- 
ly, and had one son. Oliver thought that he loved 
his son ; but he loved him not enough either to set 
him a good example, or to reprove his errors. 
William Honton took to bad ways, and ran a rapid 
course of sin and sorrow, till, laden with heavy 
irons, he lay a convicted felon in the condemned 
cell, waiting for the hour of execution. 

In this extremity of distress he was visited by his 
father, whose grey hairs he had almost brought 
down with sorrow to the grave. " I will tell you 
now," said William, " what I never have told you be- 
fore : I will tell you how I have been brought to 
this wretched end. I have been led on, encouraged, 



HOMELY HINTS TO SONS. 189 

and betrayed by one who pretended to be my best 
friend : he has brought me to ruin." 

" Who was it," anxiously asked Oliver Honton, 
"that acted so cruel a part?" "It was," said 
William, looking earnestly and upbraidingly in 
the face of his afflicted parent, " it was my own 
father !" 

Ephraim Holding could add many to this one 
melancholy instance of a father's infirmity ; but this 
one is enough. Thank God, examples are not 
wanting of an opposite kind ; for the Giver of all 
good has been abundant in his blessings, and shown 
mercy to thousands of the children of those who 
have loved him, and kept his commandments. 



HOMELY HINTS TO SONS. 

How often has Ephraim Holding caught the 
sunny glance of a parent's eye, as it lighted affec- 
tionately and exultingly on a beloved child ! How 
often has he witnessed an expression of joy that al- 
most mounted to pride, in the approving smile of a 
parent whose heart yearned towards his son ? Pity 
it is that such glances and such smiles are not worn 
by parents every day in the year, and every hour in 
the day. And why should they not be? why 



190 HOMELY HINTS TO SONS. 

should there be such a thing as a disobedient son 
or an unhappy parent in the world ? 

If children knew better than they do, how much 
joy and sorrow their good and bad conduct put into 
a father's and mother's bosom, surely they would do 
many things which they now leave undone, and 
leave undone much that they now do. 

Bad as the world is, one would think that there 
was affection enough in the breast of a son to make 
his parents happy : and so there is in ten thousand 
instances : let us do all we can to increase it. 

I love to see more than common affection be- 
tween parents and children. Whether their state 
be high or low, is of little importance, but it is of 
great importance whether or not they delight to 
render each other happy. The love of a parent for 
a child is strong as death. What will not a father 
do, what will not a mother suffer, to add to the 
happiness of a beloved child. 

'Some time ago I was present in a large town, 
when the scholars of a score of Sunday schools met 
together to walk in procession to a place of worship. 
A short woman was bustling about, at one time 
peeping between the people, at another standing on 
tip-toe, and trying to look over their heads. When 
she came to the place where I was standing, she 
could keep silence no longer, but cried out, " That's 
my son, sir, in the blue jacket." Poor woman ! 
her heart was full of her son, and she expected all 



HOMELY HINTS TO SONS. 191 

the world would be as much interested in him as 
she was. 

I remember once sitting beside an old gentleman, 
when a gold medal was to be given away as a prize 
for good conduct and attainments in learning. The 
medal was presented to a boy of about sixteen years 
of age, who, it was said, well merited the reward. 
" Can you tell me who that clever young man is V* 
said I. " Sir," replied the old gentleman, sitting 
up at least an inch higher on his seat, " he is my 
son." 

There was all the father at work in his bosom ; 
and no doubt he was much more delighted than if 
he himself had received the golden medal. 

Ephraim Holding notices these things as he 
moves about in the world, and takes the opportu- 
nity of making them known to others. 

But shall I tell you ? — yes, I will tell you an- 
other instance of parental feeling towards a son It 
may make your heart ache, but for all that, it may 
do you good. 

In spending a day in a country town, I was led 
by curiosity to hear the trials of the prisoners in the 
County Hall. There were three men placed at the 
bar, who had been found guilty, and the judge was 
putting on his black cap to pronounce the sentence 
of the law* One of the three, a young man of de- 
cent appearance, who had buried his face in his 
hands, after sobbing convulsively, lowered his head 
to the bar and gave a groan. His forehead and 



192 HO]VLELY HINTS TO SONS. 

hair were wet with perspiration ; his body trembled, 
and it was plain that he was enduring the agonies 
of fear, remorse, and shame. 

" What crime has the unhappy man committed ?" 
said I, in a whisper, to one w T ho was leaning against 
me. No answer was returned ; but, as I tried to 
lift up my hat to prevent it from being crushed, a 
big tear fell on my hand. I looked up, and saw 
the horror struck face of a white-headed old man. 
The truth flashed upon me at once, which was af- 
terwards confirmed: — that white-headed old man 
was the culprit's father ! 

Sons, of whatever age you may be, add to your 
own happiness by adding to the happiness of those 
who gave you birth. The words of holy writ, that 
you learned in early childhood, should influence 
you as much as if an angel cried aloud, with every 
rising sun, " Honour thy father and thy mother, 
that thy days may be long upon the land which the 
Lord thy God giveth thee." 

It was but yesterday that I was sitting with my 
Bible before me, when, turning over the leaves, my 
eye rested on the book of Proverbs. No wonder 
that Solomon was called a wise man, when he could 
write such a work ; but his hand was under a holy 
influence ; and, in every verse it may be said, " A 
greater than Solomon is here." 

The counsel given to all in this glorious book is 
excellent ; but the advice offered to sons is strikingly 



HOMELY HINTS TO SONS. 193 

beautiful It should be not only in ihe hand of 
every son, but in his head, and his heart. 

;; My son ! hear the instruction of thy father, and 
forsake not the law of thy mother." " My son ! 
despise not the chastening of the Lord ; neither be 
weary of his correction." " My son ! if sinners 
entice thee, consent thou not." Why, these three 
verses are worth three thousand volumes of worldly 
wisdom ; and those sons who put them in practice 
will reap a richer harvest than they would in gain- 
ing the riches of the East. 

Sons are usually fond of doing what their fathers 
do ; and fathers will do well to remember this, that 
a model may be placed before their children, wor- 
thy their imitation. When I see a son following 
his father, looking up to him, respecting his opin- 
ions, and honouring him, I have but little fear of 
his doing well. It is true there are bad fathers, 
who set anything but a good example ; but I trust 
it is not the case with yours. 

Among the Indians of America lived one Tae- 
too, a brave man ; he had a son, Taponee, that he 
loved, and his son loved and reverenced his father. 

It happened that Taetoo was taken prisoner by a 
tribe at war with him. Taetoo had heavy chains 
fastened on his hands and his feet, and he was cast 
into prison with his son, who shared his captivity. 

After a time, Taponee, being a fine youth, was 
taken before the chief whose prisoner he was. The 
chief, Willahoo, having no child, wished to adopt 

17 



194 HOMELY HINTS TO DAUGHTERS. 

him as his son. " Taponee," said he, showing him 
rich ornaments for the wrists and the ancles, 
u choose which you will — they are all at your dis- 
posal." Taponee took them up, one by one, and 
then replaced them on the ground. " As you give 
me my choice." said the noble youth, " I had ra- 
ther wear such as my father wears." 

It was a noble answer, a high-souled reply, to a 
tempting seduction ; the bonds of his father were 
more grateful than the gifts of a prince. Sons, re- 
fuse not the lesson given by the unlettered Indian. 

To you who are young, I would speak earnestly. 
Let all that is good in your parents be seen in you. 
The rattle of the earth on the coffin-lid of a parent 
is a fearful thing ; but the consciousness of having 
been an undutiful son is yet more fearful. Eph- 
raim Holding has known the one, and humbly 
blesses God for having been kept in ignorance of 
the other. 



HOMELY HINTS TO DAUGHTERS. 

I have spoken a word affectionately to the aged 
members of a family, and I trust they have received 
it in an affectionate spirit. I have addressed fathers 
and mothers, and felt towards them as they feel to- 



HOMELY HINTS TO DAUGHTERS. 195 

wards those whom we delight to honour. I have 
directed to sons my well-meant, however imperfect, 
observations : and now, I have something to say to 
daughters, who will wrong me if they take Eph- 
raim Holding to be other than their friend. 

If the aged members be the sober and silent mo- 
nitors, that give a deeper and more pious tone to 
the affairs of a family ; if the father be the roof-tree 
of the establishment ; the mother the centre of the 
in-door circle ; and the son the hope ; the daughter 
is, assuredly, the grace, the ornament, and the joy 
of the whole. While the mother extends the com- 
forts of those around her, the daughter advances a 
little farther. She looks about her ; observes the 
prevailing tastes and adopted elegancies of life ; 
blends with the customs of days gone by, the man- 
ners of present times, and prevents the family from 
falling behind the rest of the world. How sweetly 
she jests her grandfather and grandmother out of 
their old-fashioned notions ! How lovingly she 
coaxes her parents into those desirable changes, 
which, but for her, they never would adopt! I am 
speaking of daughters who have passed the age of 
childhood. 

The important part that a daughter has in pros- 
pect, give an interest in her character and her ac~ 
tions, from the time of the dressing her first waxen 
doll, to the age of womanhood. The lily of the 
valley is not more exposed to danger, though that, 
in its loveliness and loneliness, may be nipped by 



196 HOMELY HINTS TO DAUGHTERS. 

every unkindly blast, or rent by every raging 
storm. 

When Ephraim Holding regards the weakness, 
the helplessness of woman, he is only kept from de- 
sponding thoughts by the remembrance that u the 
eyes of the Lord are in every place ;" that " the 
name of the Lord is a strong tower ;" and that " the 
mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting 
upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto 
children's children." 

It has given me pleasure and profit to notice, in 
my visits, the dispositions of daughters in differ- 
ent families. I have seen much to admire, and 
something to lament. Humility has graced the be- 
haviour of one, and pride has disfigured the fore- 
head of another. Here, I have noticed affectionate 
respect and tractability, and there pertness and ob- 
stinacy. On the whole, however, the good qualities 
have prevailed. There has been manifested an affec- 
tionate, docile, obedient spirit ; a love of works of 
charity, and an attention to holy things, that has at 
times made^my heart glad. A little too much of 
the love of dress and music, and somewhat too little 
of the love of solid and useful instruction, may be 
rather general ; but for all this, the good qualities, 
as I said before, seemed to prevail. O that a more 
fervent glow of Christian love and holy zeal were 
felt in every breast : and that the grace of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of 
the Holy Ghost were abundantly enjoyed by us all ! 



HOMELY HINTS TO DAUGHTERS. 19? 

But if Ephraim Holding finds a pleasure in 
speaking in praise of daughters, he must not, on 
that account, neglect to give them a word of caution. 
Who is there in this wide world to whom advice is 
unnecessary ? 

There are seasons when the smile of a daughter 
is like a sunbeam to the care-worn hearts of her 
parents. Daughters may do much towards enliv- 
ening the shadowy hours of domestic life : they 
may increase its joys, and assuage its afflictions. A 
daughter should be an assistance to her mother, a 
solace to her father, and a comfort to her brothers 
and her sisters. 

O how goodly a thing it is to see a family dwell 
together in unity ! and how evil a thing it is for 
father and son to oppose each other, and for a 
daughter-in-law to rise up against her mother-in- 
law ! But away with the unlovely picture, for it 
is hateful to gaze on. Dutiful children value their 
parents very highly ; and none but a parent can tell 
how much beyond all price is a good son, and an 
affectionate, diligent, tractable, prudent, and pious, 
daughter. 

Though circumspection be, at all times, neces- 
sary, there is a season when daughters should be 
more circumspect than ordinary ; and that is when 
they are old enough to be sought in marriage. 
This is too important a point not to be dwelt upon. 
Daughters, you will do well to mark the observa- 
tions of Ephraim Holding. Marriage is an hon- 

17* 



18S HOMELY HINTS TO DAUGHTERS. 

ourable estate, and, when entered into under suitable 
circumstances, not to be undervalued ; but there are 
other things, besides our inclinations, to be taken 
into consideration. 

I have known a daughter labour hard with her 
hands to support a disabled father, refusing to marry 
while her afflicted parent stood in need of her 
assistance. I have known a daughter piously 
continue to attend the couch of a bed-ridden mo- 
ther, watching over her declining days, when she 
might have entered a more cheerful home with her 
intended husband. These are instances of filial 
affection that Ephraim Holding loves to hold up to 
general respect. 

But even when there are no restrictions of this 
kind, daughters, and especially Christian daugh- 
ters, will do well to use great caution in entering 
into wedlock. A parent's counsel is of great 
value at such a season. Many have found, to 
their sorrow, the bitter consequences of neglect; 
ing it. 

It is hard for parents to watch over, and water, 
as it were, their lovely plant, only to see it snatched 
aw r ay by a hand that regards it as a thing of little 
worth. It is hard when a daughter repays with 
disobedience the affection of her parents ; and yet, 
how many a father's hope has been blighted ! 
how many a mother's bosom been rent with ag- 
ony, by the imprudent marriage of a beloved 
daughter ! 



HOMELY HINTS TO DAUGHTERS. 199 

Let it be remembered, that hasty marriages are, 
almost always imprudent, though they may not 
appear so at the time : unlooked for, and unhappy 
consequences too often follow. Daughters, I will 
give you a sketch from the life. Alas ! it is too true. 

It was but as yesterday that three carriages 

drove at a rapid rate to church. Every one 

might see that it was a bridal party. There was a 
gaiety, a light-heartedness, a display, that could not 
but attract the notice of all who caught only a mo- 
mentary glance of the rapidly passing pageant. 
The drivers wore their white favours proudly, and 
cracked their whips ostentatiously ; and if the fair 
bride had a tear on her cheek, the sunny smile that 
settled there soon chased it away. 

Come, I may as well tell the truth at once; 
I was one of the party. The morn had been over- 
cast ; but suddenly the sky became bright ; and 
when the youthful pair quitted their carriages 
to enter the church, a path of sunshine was be- 
fore them. 

What has man to do w T ith pride ? And yet I felt 
pride as I walked along the flat stones of the 
church-yard, the fair bride leaning on one arm, and 
a fair bridesmaid on the other. 

It w r as mine to give away her who had been so 
ardently sought, and so hastily won ; and in doing 
so I breathed a prayer that the gift might be valued 
and found invaluable. 

That must needs be a solemn period when beings 



200 HOMELY HINTS TO DAUGHTERS 

of infirmity plight their troth in the presence of the 
Holy One, faithfully and affectionately to share 
each other's weal and woe till death shall part 
them ! But let me hasten on. Their hands were 
joined, and we left the church, while a blithesome 
peal rung from the tower. 

It was a gay and interesting scene when we sat 
down to the morn's repast. The mother of the 
bride acted well her part, presiding at one end of 
the table, while I endeavoured to discharge the du- 
ties of the other. I need not paint the scene. The 
repast was elegant and tasteful. Unnumbered dain- 
ties graced the board, and sparkling wines, and or- 
namented bridecakes, and green-house flowers, form- 
ed part of the profusion. 

Sunny was the scene ; but I will not dwell upon 
it now. Enough that the sparkling eyes of the 
new-married pair told of the happiness that glowed 
in their hearts. How could they, indeed, be other- 
wise than happy, secure in each other's love, and 
surrounded by kind-hearted and Christian friends, 
breathing their ardent wishes for their welfare ! 
Each guest seemed glad : the pair were pledged, 
glasses were raised to the lip, and the bridegroom 
gave his thanks. 

We knelt together while the minister, who had 
joined their hands in holy matrimony, committed 
the youthful pair in prayer to Him who alone could 
defend them in dangers, direct them in difficulty, 



HOMELY HINTS TO DAUGHTERS. 201 

bless them with his grace, guide them with his 
counsel, and bring them to his glory. 

The married pair put on their travelling dresses 
to commence their wedding journey ; whether for 
Brighton, or Hastings, or Margate, no matter. For 
a moment they entered the banquet-room. All 
around them was sunshine, and kind adieus, and 
piles of bride-cake, and papers of white kid gloves, 
and embossed cards, paired together tastefully with 
silver wire, bearing the names of those who were 
happy ; and bouquets of flowers met their eyes in 
all directions. Crack went the whip, whirl went 
the wheels, and two united hearts, beating quickly, 
set off on their new career of worldly joy. 

Have six months passed away ? O no ! not 
near so long a period. Not five, and scarcely four. 
It was yesterday I passed by the church: well 
might I pause at the gate, for I had not gazed upon 
the spot since the happy bridal party alighted there. 
The sun shone not, no blithe peal rung from the 
tower, but all seemed silent and sad ; yet not sadder 
than my thoughts. 

The happy pair, who so lately entered on their 
flowery path of domestic joy, had already found it 
thickly set with thorns. The fairy fabric of happi- 
ness, which their fond expectations had raised, had 
been as completely destroyed as the card-house of a 
child, blown down by accident. They had dis- 
agreed, keenly reproached each other, and parted, 
with bitter regret that they had ever met ; he to live 



202 HOMELY HINTS TO YOUNGER CHILDREN. 

alone and brood over the unhappy past, and she to 
return home to her friends. 

Shall I disclose, at full length, my view of the 
unhappy causes that led in succession to these 
events % No : never shall Ephraim Holding cross 
the sacred threshold of domestic life for the unhal- 
lowed purpose of holding up human infirmity to 
view ! Enough for him if he can snatch an im- 
pressive lesson from the short-lived joys of an un- 
happy pair, wherewith to warn the young and in- 
considerate. Enough it is to say that the parties 
had married hastily, without a suitable knowledge 
of each other. 

How necessary is this knowledge to those who 
are to share each other's joys and sorrows till 
death ! How necessary that they should be willing 
to bear each other's infirmities, as well as to admire 
each other's excellencies ! Daughters, profit by the 
caution of your friend, Ephraim Holding. 



HOMELY HINTS TO YOUNGER CHILDREN. 

Now I have caught you, my little rosy cheek? * 
Come, tell me what you are all playing at ! Ho, 
ho 1 I can see now ; you have a whipping-top 
among you ; that's right, flog away my little fatty ; 



HOMELY HINTS TO YOUNGER CHILDREN. 203 

it is an excellent exercise, and you need not be 
afraid of hurting the top. Capital ! capital ! He 
spins bravely ; not one among you can turn round 
half so nimbly. I question if I could whip a top 
half so Well, for the joints of old men are stiff, and 
they cannot stoop down and caper as you do. By 
and by, I shall have something to say about a 
shipping-top. 

Ay ! ay ! Miss there, in the pink frock, I see that 
your doll is dressed out as gay as a peacock — blue, 
and red. and yellow. If I were decked out half 
as fine, I should have a score of people running 
after me. Who can tell ? perhaps I may have 
something to say about a doll, too. 

What ! three of you climbing on my knees at 
once ! That will never do, my merry hearts. 
I have got but two knees, so you cannot have one 
apiece, you know. Well, and what have you got 
on my lap for ? Surely you have not found out the 
gingerbread-nuts in my pocket ! I may as well 
pull them out at once. Here they are ! and every 
one of you shall have some, for I know that they 
are made of good and wholesome materials. * 

And now, while you are eating my gingerbread- 
buttons, you must listen to a word or two that I 
have got to say to you. Ay, that is right; all of 
you come round me as close as you can. 

Well now, you have been whipping a top, and you 
find that it wont do at all without whipping. There 
are some little boys that I know, who, now and 



204 HOMELY HINTS TO YOUNGER CHILDREN. 

then, want whipping quite as bad as the top dors. 
and they go on all the better for it. You shake 
your heads, I see ; well, we will say no more about 
this part of the story. Ephraim Holding was once 
a little boy, and, for ought that I know, he might 
stand in need of a whipping as well as his neigh- 
bours. 

You see that this top cannot stir of itself ; you 
must make it go round, or else it will never go. 
This is just the case with all of you. If God had 
not given you power to move, you could not stir a 
finger ; you can no more put one foot before the 
other, without God, than the top can turn round 
without you. 

I see that you are thinking of what I have said, 
so I will say a little more. The doll that you have 
there is a very pretty doll ; how clear is the colour 
in her cheek, and how bright her eyes are ! You 
might, almost, suppose she was going to speak ; 
but, no, she can't speak. She is dressed very fine, 
and looks very pretty ; but, like the top, she cannot 
stir unless you put her in motion. 

N6V, tell me wherein you are different from the 
top and the doll ? You stare at one another, as 
much as to say, " What an odd question ! the top 
is a wooden top, and the doll is a waxen doll ; we 
are not made of wood or of wax either." Well, I 
know you are not, but you are made of materials 
that will crumble into dust like wood and wax ; 
therefore, there is no great difference on that account, 



HOMELY HINTS TO YOUNGER CHILDREN. 205 

There is a much greater difference than that. Tell 
me what it is ? You are silent. Ay, I see how 
^t is ; you are puzzled. 

Perhaps you think it is because you are alive, 
^nd the top and doll are not alive. That is a great 
difference, certainly, but it is not what I mean. 
Look, there is the tabby cat sitting upon her tail ; 
she is alive, she can do more than the top or the 
doll ; she can run and scamper about, and climb 
trees, and mew, and catch mice ; but, for all this, 
she is like the top and the doll ; she has no soul. 
Now, if God has given you more than he has given 
to the cat, you ought to be very thankful. 

It is your soul that enables you to pray to God, 
and to understand his word. The top and the doll, 
after a while, will be broken to pieces ; the cat will 
die, and your bodies will moulder to dust ; but your 
soul will still be alive ; it will live for ever. 

Now, think, my little dears ! as God has been 
so good as to give you a soul, that is to live for ever 
■ — a soul that is worth ten thousand worlds — think 
how thankful you should be for it; and what care 
you should take of it. 

You are careful of the top and of the doll, and 
would not hurt poor pussy ; and you are careful not 
to injure your bodies ; but you should be a hundred 
times more careful about your souls. 

It pleases me to see you pay so much attention 
to what I say ; perhaps yoi have been often talked 
to in this way before ; but never mind that : young 

18 



206 HOMELY HINTS TO YOUNGER CHILDREN. 

people require to be told the same thing, over and 
over again. 

I am an old man, and have lived a many years in 
the world, and I love to see children happy ; but as 
I know they cannot be happy without loving God, 
so I talk to them, that they may love him for all 
his goodness to them. 

You would not put the top nor the doll in the 
fire, for if you did, the one would be burnt, and the 
other would be melted. You would not stick a pin 
in poor pussy, nor in your own finger, for that 
would be putting you both to great pain ; it would 
be very weak and foolish to do these things. Do 
you not think so ? I see that you do ; well, then, 
how weak, and how wicked too, it must be to hurt 
the soul. 

Now, the soul cannot be injured by the fire, nor 
by the pricking of a pin ; but I will tell you what 
injures it very much indeed. It is injured by every 
wicked word, and every sinful deed. Every child 
that tells an untruth ; that takes God's holy name 
in vain ; that steals, if it be but a pin ; that dis- 
obeys his parents, that practises cruelty"; — every 
child that does any of these things, injures his soul. 

You see that, though I am an old man, I can talk 
as plainly to you as if I were a child. Now then, 
remember, that Ephraim Holding told you, that a 
scratch, or a cut does not hurt the body half so 
much as an ill temper, or a naughty passion hurts 
the soul. 



HOMELF HINTS TO YOUNGER CHILDREN. 207 

I want you to grow up as the holy child Jesus 
grew in his youth, when he was in this world. 
Perhaps you may remember how that was : — 
" Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in fa- 
vour with God and man." This will be the way 
to do good to your souls ; this will be the way to 
be happy. 

How soon you have eaten up my gingerbread 
buttons ! You must not, however, soon forget my 
words. The more you love God, the happier will 
you be ; remember this, and remember, too, a text 
that I am going to give you, for then you will see 
that God loves those who love him : — " I love them 
that love me ; and those that seek me early shall 
find me." 

Some day or other, perhaps, you and I may talk 
a little more about these things ; but see ! the tabby 
cat has jumped up, and is playing with the ball of 
worsted on the floor ; you would like to be playing, 
too, I dare say. Come, Miss pinky, where is your 
doll ? Now my little fatty, once more set about 
your top, and, while that is running round and 
round, Ephraim Holding must run off in a different 
direction. 



HOMELY HINTS TO SERVANTS. 

For me to enter a family circle ; to talk with the 
aged people ; to converse with the master and mis- 
tress ; to have something to say with the younger 
branches ; and altogether to neglect the servants, 
would never do at all. I would render " to all 
their dues ; tribute to whom tribute is due, custom 
to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honour to 
whom honour ;" but, in doing this, I must bear in 
mind, that a faithful, conscientious servant is deserv- 
ing of great respect. 

It has fallen to my lot, in moving about in the 
world, to be ministered to by many an upright ser- 
vant, from my very youth up to this day ; and, 
therefore, if any man breathing is bound, in com- 
mon honesty to speak well of good servants, 
that man is Ephraim Holding. Yes, from the 
gold-laced liveried footman, to the country lad 
that runs on errands, and cleans the boots and 
shoes ; from the lady's maid to the scullion, who 
scours the pots and kettles — show me a faithful ser- 
vant, and that servant shall have my respect : but, 
mind you ! my eyes are wide open to the failings 
of servants, for all this. In speaking of their bad 
as well as of their good qualities, I shall do it with 
a kindly spirit. 



HOMELY HINTS TO SERVANTS, 209 

We should all do well to remember, that the 
Dest and wisest of mankind have acknowledged 
themselves to be servants. Indeed, to be a faithful 
servant of God, is to enjoy the highest honour that 
can be put upon man. If we thought of this more, 
perhaps we should be more disposed to respect a 
good servant than we are. But servants should 
also consider how great a reproach it is to be un- 
faithful. What a pleasant thing would it be, if 
men, instead of giving themselves the trouble they 
do, to trace their relationship to the high and 
mighty of the earth, would endeavour to trace back 
their genealogy to some faithful servant of God, 
that they might tread in his steps, and imitate his 
holy example ! 

Throughout the holy Scripture, the patriarchs, 
the prophets, and the apostles, are continually 
called "servants of the Lord;" and, even of our 
gracious Redeemer it is said, that He who " thought 
it not robbery to be equal with God," " made him- 
self of no reputation, and took upon him the form 
of a servant." See, then, how the character of a 
servant has been honoured ! and see also what all 
ought to be who sustain that character ; honest in 
all things, and faithful even unto death. 

It may be that some powdered lackey, whose 

garments are stiff with gold or silver lace, may 

glance over these remarks of Ephraim Holding; 

and, if so, to him I say with affection, Are you the 

servant of God ? for, if you are not, there is much 

18* 

i 



210 HOMELY HINTS TO SERVANTS. 

reason to fear that you are not faithful to youi 
earthly master. Feel not offended at my remark, 
unless you are satisfied it is unjust. He who can 
be unfaithful to God, may well be suspected of un- 
faithfulness to man. 

And if some simple-minded house-maid, or cook, 
or nurse-girl, as she sits in her clean-swept kitchen, 
or upper chamber, on the afternoon or evening- of 
the Sabbath-day, should take up these observations 
of Ephraim Holding — if she be w r alking heaven- 
ward, a sincere, however lowly, disciple of the Re- 
deemer, let her be encouraged j let her know that 
there are many, above her situation in life, who do 
not look down on servants with pride, but on the 
contrary, highly respect them, and feel interested in 
their temporal and spiritual welfare. I would wil- 
lingly speak only in praise of servants, but that 
would not be acting uprightly. There are many 
failings among them — sad failings ; let me glance 
over a fev of them. 

A m<m-servant, whose life had been mostly 
passed in service, told me, that if he were to des- 
cribe one half of the deceit and roguery practised 
by servants in high life, I should not give credit to 
his assertions : folly, extravagance, waste, and rob- 
bery are recklessly persevered in. 

" I have known," said he, " men-servants, after 
leaving their master at a ball, drive round in his 
carriage to pick up their own company, return 
home, dress themselves in his clothes, and drink his 



HOMELY HINTS TO SERVANTS. 211 

wine with their dissolute companions, as freely as 
water." 

A respectable servant, on whose word I can rely; 
once told me the following facts : — 

" At a place in which I once lived," said she, " a 
certain sum was deducted from what I otherwise 
should have received for wages, in consequence of 
my being supplied with tea and sugar. My fellow- 
servant called me a fool for making such an agree- 
ment, as I might have saved myself the sum very 
well, by helping myself, as she had always been in 
the habit of doing, from the china closet, whenever 
an opportunity occurred. 

" Another fellow-servant had not been allowed 
meat for supper ; ' but,' said she, £ I will tell you 
how I manage the matter. I cut off more meat at 
dinner-time than I can eat, and put by as much as I 
want for supper, so that no one knows anything of 
the matter." The same girl, on taking away the 
cloth from such of her puddings as were boilded in a 
basin, frequently cut off the pudding level with the 
basin for herself, before she turned it in the dish for 
the dining-room, affecting all the time to care little 
for pudding. 

" Once, when I had entered on a fresh place, I 
had occasion to call on a married woman, who 
asked me if she could do any needle-work of any 
kind for me. Not exactly understanding her mean- 
ing, she showed me a large pocket of green tea, 
telling- me that she had it from some servants in the 



212 HOMELY HINTS TO SERVANTS 

neighbourhood, whose needle-work she did in re- 
turn. Ever since her marriage she had, in this 
manner, been regularly supplied with tea. 

" A servant girl that I knew, felt offended at hear- 
ing her master express himself proudly aoout ser- 
vants drinking out of the same vessel as himself; 
this, he had no doubt, was the case at times, when 
they went to draw the drink in the cellar. After 
this it was the regular custom with the girl, when- 
ever she drew drink for her master, to breathe with 
all her might into the glass or cup, in order that her 
proud master might be spited." 

Now, these are sad instances of dishonesty and 
bad conduct on the part of servants. Look at them 
for a moment, and ask yourselves whether these 
are actions of which an upright and conscientious 
servant can be guilty. 

I well, remember once uncorking a bottle of 
wine myself, when, being called away, a glass-full 
had disappeared on my return. Marking trie bot- 
tle, I again put it in the cupboard, and soon after 
found another glass-full gone. In this way I went 
on, putting a mark level with the wine in the bot- 
tle, without ever pouring out a drop. In a few days 
the bottle was quite empty. 

A friend of mine found a pot of currant jam 
grow less and less very rapidly ; when he spread 
very freely over the top some ipecacuanha. A ser- 
vant who was suspected, very shortly after, by her 
sudden and violent sickness, made it very apparent 



HOMELY HINTS TO SERVANTS. 213 

in what way the currant-jam had been dispos- 
ed of. 

It is not more than a few weeks ago, that a man 
was taken before the magistrate, who had in his 
wheelbarrow more than a hundred weight of 
wax. This had been obtained from servants in 
houses where wax candles were used ; and every- 
one who is accustomed to glance over the newspa- 
pers, must have been struck with the frequent rob- 
beries of plate by servants ; but enough and more 
than enough on this shadowy side of my subject. 
Ephraim Holding grieves that servants should so 
far stand in their own light, as to consider a few bits 
and drops, a few candle ends and scraps of tea, a 
sufficient return for the loss of their character, and 
the absence of their peace of mind. 

Servants ! servants ! you are better known than 
you may think for ; your little piiferings, your piti- 
ful deceits, your treacherous tale-bearings, do you 
much more mischief than they do those you serve. 
The wages you receive are not paid for your work 
alone, but for your honesty, your fidelity, your 
good behaviour, and dutiful obedience and respect. 
Do justice to yourselves, by doing justice to your 
masters and mistresses, for a curse clings to the 
wages of dishonesty and falsehood. 

I have known servants who would blush at a 
mean action, who could not have been bribed to de- 
ceive those they served, and who would not have 



214 HO]£ELY HINTS TO SERVANTS. 

been dishonest for all the wealth of the Bank of 
England. 

More instances than one have come to my know- 
ledge, of servants, who, after devoting their best days 
to the families to whom they were attached, admin- 
istered to their wants in the season of calamity, and 
died, leaving them every penny of the property they 
had saved in their service. Such servants are 
among those whom Ephraim Holding delights to 
honour. 

Often have I read the inscription in a country 
church-yard, " To the memory of a faithful ser- 
vant ;" and, while reading it, I have felt as kindly 
toward the poor perishing dust beneath the stone, 
as though it had been that of a brother or a sister. 

Servants, let me urge upon you the service of 
God, that you may be better and happier servants 
in your places on earth, living a life of faith in Je- 
sus Christ, and of obedience to his gospel ; that 
when the time shall arrive that the servant shall be 
equal with his master, you may hear the welcome 
words, a Well done, thou good and faithful servant : 
thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will 
make thee ruler over many things : enter thou into 
the joy of thy Lord." 



ON DISAPPOINTED HOPES. 

From the cradle to the grave, we occupy tenfold 
more time in wishing for what we have not, than 
in enjoying that which we have. Ay ; and where 
we once offer up praise for benefits received, we 
twenty times petition the Father of mercies to 
add to the number of the gifts he has already be- 
stowed. 

There is a restless discontentedness that seems to 
cling to us like a leprosy. Give a child an apple 
in each hand, and he will want the one that re- 
mains on the table ; and, give a man thousands of 
gold and silver, and tens of thousands will become 
the object of his desires. Experience will warrant 
the belief, that the possession of Europe and Asia 
would excite a yearning in our hearts for Africa 
and America ; and that, if to these the moon could 
be added we should never rest in peace until we 
had obtained the sun. 

Do you remember, when a child, looking for- 
ward to be put into trousers ? You do : so do I — . 
so do we all ; and, perhaps, no single circumstance, 
in our eventful lives, has ever been more important 
to us as men, than that occurrence appeared to us in 
the days of our childhood. 

Oh, it was a glorious moment, a glorious epoch 



216 ON DISAPPOINTED HOPES. 

in our lives, after all our longings, and all the 
delays to the promises we had received, to find 
ourselves " little men !" — to see, not in a dream, hut 
in reality, the shining blue cloth, the glittering gilt 
buttons, and to feel the silver sixpence, and the new 
penny, in our very own pocket, as we fumbled 
again and again with delight, and listened to the 
jingling sound. 

Sceptres, and crowns, and jewels rare, 
The sovereigns of the world might wear ; 
But what cared we for such like things, 
When we were happier far than kings ! 
The tiny joys that waked our pride, 
Were more than all the world beside. 

But there came a time when these things de- 
lighted us not as they were wont to do : we saw 
other objects that appeared desirable, and to see 
them was to covet them : these, in their turn, were 
attained and discarded. Boys cannot always be 
na PPy* an d so we sighed to become men. 

Do you remember, when at school, how you 
wished to be put apprentice ? and, when an ap- 
prentice, how you longed to be out of your time, 
and become a master ? No doubt you do ; so 
do I ; and so do we all ; but we were not quite 
satisfied when we had obtained the object of our 
desires. 

As it was in our childhood and youth, so has i( 
been in our manhood ; object after object has been 
attained with no better success. As he who picks 



ON DISAPPOINTED HOPES. 217 

up shells on the sea-shore always has one more 
preferable in his eye than in his hand, so we ever 
hope to add to our happiness by some new acqui- 
sition. This is the case, not with one, only, but 
with all. 

We have never yet attained one earthly advan- 
tage that has given us more than a temporary joy ; 
we have never gained aught that has satisfied our 
desires. Is this your expereience ? I know it is ; 
it is mine ; it is the experience of us all. 

We have all blown our bubbles, and ran after 
butterflies, in our childhood, our youth, and our 
manhood ; the bubble has burst, and the caught 
butterfly has been crushed, not yielding us half the 
satisfaction that they did when in the air. 

Who is there among us who can look back 
through the vista of threescore years, without 
wondering that, being so frequently deceived, he 
could so confidingly trust the empty promise of 
future joy ? It is in vain we try to deceive our- 
selves. 

Fortune may favour. Fancy may beguile, 
Hope wave her golden wings, and sweetly smile ; 
But sad Experience, with a brow o'ercast. 
Sighing with grief, and pointing to the past, 
Whispers, the fair illusion to destroy, 
That joy unclouded is not earthly joy. 



When we were young there was some excuse 
ise 
19 



for us j but what excuse have we now 1 I am 



218 ON DISAPPOINTED HOPES. 

speaking- to such as have grey hairs on their heads 
ay, and to those too, who have no hair at all. 

The homely adage tells us that ''old birds are 
not caught with chaff." If this be true, old birds 
are much wiser than old men. Shame upon us, 
that it should be so ! but we are continually for- 
getting the good gifts of God, and pursuing ob- 
jects which are no better than chaff when they are 
attained. 

Did you ever reckon up God's mercies? or, 
rather, did you ever try to reckon them 1 for they 
are more in number than the hairs of our head. 
Let us run over a few of them, for it may show, 
m a stronger point of view, our thanklessness and 
discontent. 

God has given us a body, soul, and spirit, en- 
dowed with rare capacities and powers of enjoy- 
ment, and placed us in a world of beauty, wherein 
we cannot tell whether the earth beneath our feet, 
or the sky above our head, is the most glorious to 
gaze on. 

For us the flowers of spring unfold themselves, 
and the fruits of autumn hang in clusters on the 
tree. The sun gilds our path by day ; and, if we 
walk abroad by night, a thousand glittering lamps 
are hung in heaven. God has given us dominion 
■" over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the 
air, and over every living thing that moveth upon 
the earth." 

But not ,o earth's contracted spar alone has he 



ON DISAPPOINTED HOPES. 2 19 

limited his goodness. He has given us his holy 
word, abounding in exceedingly grea* and precious 
promises for those who fear him, love him, and 
obey him, and delight in . his mercy. We have 
tranquil Sabbaths, and a throne of grace, and sea- 
sons of prayer, and the influences of his Holy 
Spirit, to increase our consolations, to brighten our 
hopes, and confirm our faith in the reality of eternal 
things. What he has bestowed here, cannot be 
fully described, and " eye hath not seen, nor ear 
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man 
the things which God hath prepared," in another 
world, for his people ; they have u promise of the 
life that now is, and of that which is to come/' 

Now, these are a part, only, of the innumerable 
gifts of God ; and yet, in the midst of this unbounded 
profusion, we dare to be unthankful ! Yea, though 
11 God so loved the world, that he gave his only 
begotten Son, that whosoever beheveth in him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life," we un- 
gratefully live in a spirit of repining, from year to 
year, and from day io day. Shame! shame upon 
us all ! 

Experience presents to my memory too many 
human beings repining in sickness, who were never 
grateful m health ; too many complaining of God's 
judgments in adversity, who never acknowledged 
his mercy in the day of their prosperity. Surely, 
if we blame the hand that smites us down, we 
should honour the arm that raises us up. " Shall 



f^20 ON DISAPPOINTED HOPES. 

we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we 
not receive evil V 1 

Bat the spirit of unthankfulness, that seems to 
mingle with our very marrow and our bones, is as 
impolitic as it is unjust. Should a beggar starve 
with a wallet full of provisions at his back ? or a 
man die of thirst, with a fountain bubbling at his 
feet? We should enjoy, gratefully enjoy, what 
God in goodness has bestowed, and try to be content 
with such things as we have, for " a contented 
mind is a continual feast." 

When we hear of Napoleon passing his days as 
a captive on a rock, because he was not content 
to sit as a conqueror on a throne ; when we read 
of Alexander blubbering like a boy who has lost 
his marble, because he had no other world to con- 
quer, we indulge in some sapient reflection, and ex- 
claim against the unthankfulness of power, and the 
unreasonableness of ambition ; but, are we not act- 
ing the same censurable part continually, in under- 
valuing the blessings we possess, and eagerly pur- 
suing what is but u as chaff which the wind driveth 
away ?" 

Let us turn our attention more than we have 
done, to the costliness of a contented spirit ; and, if 
we cannot be satisfied with what we have, let us try 
t'o get more of God's grace, and a brighter hope of 
sharing his glory. 

At the moment that I note down these disjointed 
observations, a hearse, with sable plumes, and 



ON THE VICISSITUDES OF LIFE. 221 

mourning-coaches, with coal-black horses, pacing 
slowly, with arched necks, are passing my window. 
How silently, yet how eloquently, they set forth 
the worthlessness of wordly pursuits, compared with 
the value of eternal things ! Let me close my 
remarks in the words of a favourite Collect : would 
that its spirit was as familiar to my mind as the 
letters that compose it are to my memory ! — u O 
God, who hast prepared for them that love thee, 
such good things as pass man's understanding, pour 
into our hearts such love towards thee, that we, lov- 
ing thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, 
which exceed all that we can desire, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord." 



ON THE VICISSITUDES OF LIFE. 

This is a goodly world in which we are placed, 
and it is well to look at the bright side of it ; bram- 
bles and thorns there are in it, but then look at its 
roses and posies ! 

If you tell me that it is a waste, howling wilder- 
ness, I will tell you that it is only sin that makes it 
so. O gaze on its rising and setting suns, its green 
fields, and glowing skies ! Call to remembrance 
its balmy gales, its singing birds, its blushing fruits, 
and" blooming flowers ! Have you friends, valued 

19 # 



222 ON THE VICISSITUDES OF LIFE. 

friends, and relatives dear to you as the apple oi 
your eye ? Have you a keen conception of crea- 
tion's beauty, and a lively sense of domestic peace ? 
If you have, you will want words wherewith to set 
forth how closely the world, and the things of the 
world, cling to your heart. Still it is well to pre- 
pare for a change. I have just returned from a 
visit to an infant's grave. I went with the bereaved 
mother to the church-yard, the treasure-house of 
her beloved one's remains. 

It was a retired spot, surrounded with fair fields, 
and goodly oaks and elms — meet place for reflec- 
tion, and for pondering on the mutability of earthly 
things. Fathers feel for their children, but they 
know not a mother's affection. The mother whom 
I attended to that village cemetery, when she seated 
herself at the foot of her baby's grave, felt as a 
mother. 

This little circumstance has given a sober turn 
to my thoughts. I have been thinking of the frail 
tenure on which we hold the fairest things in this 
fair world, and many a bitter portion of past ex- 
perience rises in my memory, 

" To grave the mournful moral on my heart." 

The fond mother gazes on the opening bud that 
she has watched with prayers, and watered with 
her tears, She enjoys the present, she anticipates 
the future, when her fair floweret shall expand, and 
put forth all its loveliness ; but, suddenly, it is 



ON THE VICISSITUDES OP LIFE. 223 

touched by the north wind's icy fingers, its beauty 
fades away, and it lies blighted at her feet. The 
-ovely one was held on the tenure of a breath ; it 
came up like a flower, and was cut down. On the 
same tenure do we hold all that is earthly. 

Change is inscribed on all things beneath the 
skies ; and this should be taken into the account, 
when we estimate what we possess. 

The suns of summer, and the storms of winter, 
have been many, since four school-boys, ardent in 
their dispositions, were playing together on a vil- 
lage green. They had wandered the same fields 
climbed the same trees, and slaked their thirst at 
the same rivulet, for years, for they had long been 
schoolfellows. Apart from their companions, boy- 
like, they were boasting what they would do when 
they became men. 

One might have thought, that where ardour, and 
energy, and youth, and health, were united, the fair 
future had something substantial to rest upon, and 
that the gay dreams of youth would be realized in 
after years. What bright bubbles we brow, and 
how soon they burst ! 

One of the four valued himself upon his strength ; 
and, as his forefathers had died at a goodly age, he 
expected to be well stricken in years ere he died : 
but the fever shook his well-built frame, and, be- 
fore he was twenty years, old, they carried his 
breathless clay to the church-yard, and laid it in the 



224 ON THE VICISSITUDES J? LiTF, 

Another was in love with fame, and panted to 
become a hero ; he longed to share the dangers of 
the battle-field, to mingle with contention, to drink 
in the sounds of the trumpet blast, the neighing of 
the war horse ; : ' the thunder of the captains, and 
the shouting/' He entered the army, looking for- 
ward to a pair of epaulettes ; but a quarrel with a 
superior officer dispelled the illusion. A challenge 
was sent, and of course accepted : at the first fire he 
felt, with a bullet in his bosom. 

A third yearned to see foreign lands, and foreign 
jands he saw ; but when are the wandering eye 
and the wandering heart satisfied ? The icebergs 
of the north were gazed on, and the sultry sands of 
the equator were trodden ; but he returned not to 
his native land to tell of the wonders he had witnes- 
sed, and the dangers he had endured. The ship, 
whose sails were filled with homeward breezes, 
foundered, and bore him to the bottom of the yawn- 
ing deep. 

And what shall I say of the remaining one, 
whose Tiead and heart were as full of the gay 
dreams of future years as those of his hapless com- 
panions ? He has lived till the grey hair of age 
has proclaimed his time to be short ; and though he 
can still " sing of mercy," he feels, while his pen is 
employed in noting down these mournful passages 
of his past experience, that his future earthly ex- 
pectations hang upon a thread. 

How industriously we build on the shifting sand ! 



ON THE VICISSITUDES OF LIFE. 225 

How eagerly we blow the bursting bubble ! How 
ardently we pursue the shadow that eludes our 
grasp ! Though we know that our lives are a va- 
pour that passeth away, and that in a moment we 
may be called hence, we are all saying, after our 
own fashion, u Soul, thou hast much goods laid up 
for many years ; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be 
merry." u This night thy soul may be required of 
thee," is a supposition that we cannot realize : we 
stand on the tottering avalanche, with as much con- 
fidence as though our feet were based upon the py- 
ramids. 

It is not to dispel hope, but to chasten presump- 
tion, that I thus speak. We ought highly to value 
our temporal mercies, but we ought not to estimate 
them as though they were eternal. Change is 
deeply inscribed upon them, in broad, legible char- 
acters ; and to refuse to read the inscription, is to 
lose the benefit of a lesson that should ever be pre- 
sent to our remembrance. 

I might point to the page of history, and adorn 
my subject with sketches of departed greatness. 
Where is Nineveh, " that great city," and the 
mighty host of Sennacherib ? Where is Belshaz- 
zar, and brazen-gated Babylon? Thebes is in de- 
solation ; and, of Jerusalem, scarcely one stone 
rests on another. A change has passed over 
them ; and the splendour and power of Greece and 
of Rome have passed away. But why should I 
meddle with things too high for me? Better will 



ZiO ON THE VICISSITUDES OF LIFE. 

it be to leave the unwieldy affairs of empires, and 
take my illustrations from common life : our own 
experience comes closer home to our hearts. 

The changes which take place around us, as we 
pursue our earthly pilgrimage, are frequently of a 
mournful kind ; and this is still more the case when 
the furrows of age are graven on our brows. The 
house, the village, or the town, where we were 
born, becomes altered and strange to us ; the trees, 
w r hose grateful shade we courted, are cut down ; 
the friends we loved, one by one pass away ; and 
infirmities, of various kinds, become our compan- 
ions : we tread softly, where we have been wont to 
press on in the turbulence of health ; and we not only 
find, but feel the emptiness of all things here below. 
Mankind becomes a new race of beings, in which 
the friends of our youth are few, or far removed. 

" Change is the diet on which all subsist, 
Created changeable ; and change at last 
Destroys them." 

Some time ago I went to the favourite haunt of 
my bygone days, where once stood the ash on the 
green, the cottage at the corner of the paddock, and 
the coppice on the slope of the hill : the tree was 
hewn down, the cottage removed, and the coppice 
ground was changed into a ploughed field. Most 
of the inhabitants of the village were dead ; and 
such as were alive were aged and infirm. Mos\ 
likely you have met with changes such as these. 

But what are these ttings in comparison with 



ON THE NEW-MADE GRAVE. 227 

others, for which we ought to be prepared '( Riches 
sometimes make themselves wings, and fly away ; 
friends closely attached to us become estranged ; 
and, not unfrequently, we are bereaved of those 
whose presence is as a sunbeam in our paths. In 
mind, body, and estate, a change may take place to 
our disadvantage. 

Seeing* that these things are so, let us flee to the 
Rock for refuge ; let us fix our hearts and our 
hopes on Him who changeth not, but is the same 
yesterday, to-day, and for ever ; that when the trum- 
pet shall sound, and we shall stand before the judg- 
ment seat of Christ, we may be changed into His 
glorious image, who offered up himself a ransom 
on the cross for sinners, that all who believe on 
him might not perish, but have everlasting life. 
Let us keep the golden gates and the unchangeable 
glories of heaven full in view, and the changes of 
earth will be patiently, yea, joyfully endured. 



ON THE NEW-MADE GRAVE. 

We are more apt,*in our onward course, to be 
caught by that which affects our senses, than by 
what appeals to our reflection. The roar of cannon, 
and the rattling thunder, arrest and secure our 
attention- while the s ently-falling dew is disre- 



228 ON THE NEW-MADE GRAVE. 

garded, though the latter is of immeasurably more 
importance to us than the former. It is the same 
among mankind ; the loudest and most vehement 
speaker, ever receives, from the multitude, the 
greatest degree of attention. The more we reflect, 
the more likely we are to correct this error. 

To reflecting minds, things the most silent are 
frequently the most eloquent. To them, the voice- 
less creation cries, as it were, aloud. The declin- 
ing day, the setting sun, the faded leaf, the season's 
change, and the new-made grave, all proclaim the 
mutability of earthly things. I want to press this 
matter affectionately on your remembrance. I want 
you to hear a voice in solitude, in darkness, and in 
silence. 

" Hark ! hark ! a cry is gone abroad from every peopled plain, 
It sweeps along the sounding shore, it murmurs from the 

main ; 
From every varied spot of earth, where human creatures be, 
It echoes loudly through the land, and spreads from sea to 

sea. 
From palace wall and humble cot — from town and village 

lone; 
From every newly-open'd grave, and every churchyard stone 
In every language under heaven, a voice repeats the cry— 
1 Thy days are number 'd, mortal man ; and thou art born t 

die!'" # 

VVhate'er thy state may be, whate'er the paths thy feet hav. 

trod, 
Forsake thy sins, and lowly kneel, and seek the Lord thv 

God. 



ON THE NEW-MADE GRAVE. 229 

Prepare thee for the bed of death, though now thy bosom 

burn, 
For dust thou art, and suddenly to dust thou shalt return. 
What though ten thousand flattering tongues conspire to 

praise thee now, 
Though glittering stars adorn thy breast, and diadems thy 

brow ; 
•'Mid all thy dreams of earthly bliss, thou soon shalt hear the 

cry, 
' Thy davs are number'd, mortal man, and thou art doom'd 

to die!'" 

I hold it to be a good sign in age and youth, to 
be given to quiet musings. " Commune with your 
own heart upon your bed and be still," says David, 
in the 4th Psalm. There is in this stillness, this 
holdino- communion with ourselves, much that is 
favourable to wisdom, virtue, piety, and peace. 

Experience tells us, that whether we are musers 
or not, there is evil enough in every heart ; but I 
do not think that the vicious and abandoned part of 
mankind are given to muse much on anything that 
will not increase their pleasures, nor add to their 
worldly possessions. Never do I see any one 
thoughtfully wandering from one grave-stone to 
another, in a churchyard, without judging favour- 
ably of their affections, and their dispositions to be 
helped on their way to heaven. 

If I could, I would send you all into the church- 
yard more frequently than you now go there ; ay, 
and I would go there myself more frequently, too ; 
for no one stands more in need than I do, of being 

20 



230 ON THE NEW-MADE GRAVE, 

reminded, that the heart of a Christian man should 
be set on better things than are to be found on this 
side eternity. 

" Let others fondly seek the vain reward, 

The fleeting phantom of this world's regard : 

Be theirs at every hazard to he great, 

To live in splendour, and to sit in state ; 

But. Christian, thou with nohler views must rise — 

This world thy prison-house, thine home the skies. 

Leave, then, the proud to grasp the rod of power, 

The glittering baubles of an earthly hour, 

To bid the prostrate throng in homage bow, 

And place a diadem upon their brow ; 

Thy crown with brighter gems than theirs shall shine: 

Earth is their kingdom, heaven above is thine!" 

Let me give you a few of the warning admoni- 
tions of Scripture, that are to be found scattered, 
here and there, in our churchyards. 

" Dust thou art, and unto dust shait thou return." 
Gen. in. 19. " Our days on the earth are a sha- 
dow, and there is none abiding." 1 Chron. xxix. 
15. u Boast not thyself of to-morrow: for thou 
knowest not what a day may bring forth." Prov. 
xxvii. 1. " Watch, therefore, for ye know not 
what hour your Lord may come." Matt. xxvi. 42. 
•'As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth. there 
is but a step between me and death." 1 Sam. xx. 3. 
u Repent : for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 
Matt. iv. 17. " Set thy house in order; for thou 
shalt die and not live." 2 Kings, xx. 1. " For 
we must all appear before the judgment seat of 



ON THE NEW-MADE GRAVE. 231 

Christ ; that every one may receive the things done 
in his body, according to that he hath done, whe- 
ther it be good or bad." 2 Cor. v. 10. 

Eut there are consolations, and encouragements, 
as well as warning admonitions, on the grave- 
stones of the departed, and they often strike us there, 
more forcibly than when we read them in holy 
writ ; such, for example, as the following : — 

" Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: 
for the end of that man is peace." Psalm xxxvii. 
37. "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give 
thee a crown of life." Rev. ii. 10. " Many are 
the afflictions of the righteous : but the Lord deliv- 
ered him out of them all." Psalm xxxiv. 19. 

" God will redeem my soul from the power 
of the grave ; for he shall receive me." Psalm 
xlix. 15. 

t( We, according to his promise, look for new 
heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth right- 
eousness." 2 Pet. iii. 13. 

i: They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." 
Psalm cxxvi. 5. 

' ; We know, that if our earthly house of this 
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 
God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens." 2 Cor. v. 1. 

•- For our light affliction, which is but for a mo- 
ment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory." 2 Cor. iv. 17. 

" God so loved the world that he gave his only 



232 ON THE NEW-MADE GRAVE. 

begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, 
should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 
iii. 16. 

" I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he 
shall stand at the latter day upon the earth : and 
though, after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet 
in my flesh shall I see God." Job xix. 25, 26. 

" Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
have entered into the heart of man, the things 
which God hath prepared for them that love him." 
1 Cor. ii. 9. 

Now, such passages of God's word as these, are, 
to many, meat and drink — health to their navel, 
and marrow to their bones. I may be told that 
numbers, who occasionally wander among the 
tombs, go there rather for amusement than for pro- 
fit ; but I would not on this account think lightly 
of their visits. The scene around them in the 
grave-yard, is favourable to reflection, and the in- 
scriptions that meet their eyes are often of an ar- 
resting kind. In whatever part of the cemetery 
they may be, 

" Some frail memorial still erected nigh, 
With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sulpture dec.L d 
Implores the passing tribute of a sigh." 

And, if they are led within the venerated pile, to 
2raze on the more costly memorials of the dead — 
the marble monuments of the great — they are again 
reminded that 



ON THE NEW-MADE GRAVE. 233 

* The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 

Await alike the inevitable hour ; 
The paths of glory lead but to the grave." 

It has often struck me that profitable volumes 
might be gleaned from inscriptions in churchyards ; 
not like the works of lio-ht-hearted travellers, who 
have, too often, collected together from consecrated 
ground, all they could find that was humorous or 
ridiculous, wherewith to amuse their readers, but a 
collection of sober, pious, and striking inscriptions. 
Let me explain what I mean, by a few examples. 

" Art thou prepared, reader ! with the grave be- 
fore thee, to be judged with the same judgment with 
which thou hast judged others ?" 

" Live near to God in this world, if thou wouldst 
dwell with him in that which is to come." 

" The grave can neither withhold the righteous 
from happiness, nor protect the wicked from unut- 
terable wo." 

" Though the wicked may laugh in his life, the 
good man alone can smile in his death." 

i: The brightest earthly hope is but a brilliant 
bubble bursting against a tombstone." 

" Reader ! if thou thinkest lightly of the happi- 
ness and misery of another world, remember that 
millions of ap-es crowding- on millions ox acres — > 
millions of ages crowding- on millions U ages — . 
and, again, millions of ages crowding or millions 
of ages, are but the beginning of eternity ; 

20* 



234 ON THE NEW-MADE GRAVE. 

" How poor are the gilded escutcheons, and the 
perishing records of the mouldering marble, when 
compared with the well-grounded hope that the 
spirit of the departed is with God!" 

u The stone that natters the dead, deceives the 
living." 

" If death be hard to bear, as the end of temporal 
pain, how may it be endured as the beginning of 
eternal wo !" 

" Does the grave affright thee ? learn to look 
beyond it." 

How vain are all worldly pursuits, when placed in 
competition with the salvation of the soul !" 

" Go forward, Christian, on thy heavenly pil- 
grimage ! Though a crown and a cross should be 
placed before thee, let not the one tempt, nor the 
other deter thee from thy path. Tremble not at 
death — it shall end thy sorrows ; fear not the 
grave — it is the portal of immortality : thy home, 
thy heaven is before thee, where He who redeemed 
thy life from destruction shall crown thee with lov- 
ing-kindness and tender mercies." 

" Reader, improve thy fleeting hours, remember- 
ing that the most precious portion of thy time is 
t*iat which is nearest to eternity." 

" Happy is the pilgrim who, amid the thorns 
and briers that obstruct his pathway to a better 
world, can discover none of his own planting." 

Even accidental visiters of a churchyard are not 
unlikely to be profited by such inscriptions as these ; 



ON THE xNEW-MADE GRAVE. 235 

while, still more accessible are trie hearts of those 
who go to visit the resting places of the dust that is 
dear to them. 

Many scenes have I witnessed among the green 
hillocks of a churchyard, that have tried the very 
heart-strings ; one of these I shall give you, though 
it is possible I may have alluded to it before. 

Walking thoughtfully from tomb to tomb, I came 
at last to the retired part of a burial ground, where 
I observed an aged woman — who must have passed 
through at least three score years and ten of her 
pilgrimage — standing in a mournful posture at a 
new-turfed grave There was no marble to mark 
the spot ; not even a grave-stone to tell her " where 
they had laid him ;" but that did not signify. She 
measured the hillock with her eye, and slowly 
paced around it, stooping down now and then, and 
patting the green sods with her fingers. After 
this, leaning both hands on her stick, and fixing 
her aged eyes on the grave, she burst into tears. 

It went to my very soul. I indeed felt for the 
old lady, and sighed for very sympathy. My heart 
yearned to join her, but I could not trespass on her 
reflections. Again she walked round the grave, 
and again a flood of tears came to her relief Al- 
most as much overcome as she was, I walked away, 
leaving her still looking wishfully at the grave, 

Once more I say, go to the churchyard — 

11 Look round upon the scene of deathj 
And take a word of warning • 



236 ON THE NEW-MADE GRAVE, 

Improve the light, nor leave till night 
The business of the morning. 

" The fool, through every passing hour, 
Beset with sin and sorrow, 

Puts far away his dying day, 
Though that may be to-morrow. 

" The wise man does not waste his time 3 
Lest life and health forsake him ; 

Where'er he goes, full well he knows 
That death will soon o : ertake him. 

" O wouldst thou from the graves around 

A useful lesson borrow, 
Go on thy way, improve to-day, 

And bless'd shall be to-morrow." 



ON PREPARATION FOR WINTER. 

T have already spoken to you about the rapid 
flight of time, and I now ask you, Are you prepared 
for bleak-blowing, fino^r-pinching frame-searching 
December ? I said truly, " We can neither beg ; 
borrow, nor steal an instant of time ; therefore, 
make ducks and drakes of your silver and gold ? 
and cast your jewels and your pearls, if you have 
them, to the very swine to trample on, rather than 



ON PREPARATION FOR WINTER. 237 

part with, or misuse, a moment of that time which 
is more costly than the ransom of a king." 

We are much more disposed to receive most 
things than to give them away ; but this is not the 
case with regard to advice. Were I required rigidly 
to account for the moments of the bygone twelve 
months, it would be seen but too plainly that I my- 
self required, this year, the sapient admonitions 
which, last year, I offered to others. Are you pre- 
pared for winter ? 

You remember the grasshopper in the fable : 
gay and light-hearted, he danced through the sum- 
mer season without even so much as thinking of 
winter ; but, though he never thought of it, winter 
came ; and not having made preparation for it, he 
was driven to his wit's end. 

Half-starved with cold and hunger, he found his 
way to an ant's nest, where corn had been stored 
up in abundance. The ants had not only thought 
of winter, but also prepared for its approach : not a 
grain, however, of their store did they offer to the 
pinched and perishing grasshopper. " Tell me," 
said one of the industrious tribe, how you have 
spent your time, that you have no provision now :" 
and when he heard of the free-hearted revelry and 
junketting of the poor, thoughtless grasshopper, his 
only remark was, " They who dance away sum- 
mer, must be content to starve away winter." 

Now, though I have referred to a fable, there 
was not the least necessity for it ; for there are so 



238 ON PREPARATION FOR WINTER. 

many half-starved, homeless, and friendless grass- 
hoppers among mankind, who have made no pro- 
vision for winter, that I might just as well have re 
ferred to them as to the other. 

Again I say, Are you prepared for winter 1 I 
hardly need tell you that there is a winter of life, 
as well as a winter of the seasons ; and, if it be at 
all expedient to provide for the one, it is a thousand 
times more necessary to prepare for the other. 

In the common-place occurrences of life, the 
want of preparation is a source of continual annoy- 
ance; and, no doubt, your experience confirms the 
remark. 

I dare say in the course of your lives, you have 
been overtaken by a storm when unprepared to 
meet it. Oh, the comfort of a stout, thich-soled pair 
of boots, a substantial great-coat, and a strong um- 
brella when you are plodding through a 1 puddle, 
and the rain is descending in torrents around you ! 

Stepping on the toe of a thin-soled shoe, buttoning 
a flimsy coat up to the chin, and tying a handker- 
chief over your hat, are but sorry expedients in a 
drenching storm. How shall I persuade you to 
prepare for the storm of storms — the winter of 
winters — the latter end of time, and the beginning 
of eternity ! 

In m}^ youthful days, I was once so elated with 
the prospect of riding on horseback to a town about 
a dozen miles distant, that I made no preparation 
for the turnpike gate ; the want of a penny brought 



ON PREPARATION FOR WINTER, 239 

upon me a pound's .worth of anguish; bitterly did 
I rue my thoughtless improvidence. This, how- 
ever, was but a temporary inconvenience : but, how 
will it be with us if, unprovided and unprepared, 
we think to enter the " strait gate which leadeth 



onto life V 



On another occasion, at eventide, I thoughtlessly 
mounted a stage-coach to ride a hundred miles 
without making preparation for the pinching frost, 
and piercing midnight winds that awaited me. I 
was warm when I commenced my journey, but 
cold enough before it was concluded. It was a 
cruel night: the guard of another stage, with all 
his thick coats and heavy capes, was found frozen 
to death on his seat, when the coach stopped to 
change horses ; and, when I descended to the frosty 
ground, my legs were stiffened, and almost past sen- 
sation, to my knees. I was not prepared for what 
I had to endure. There may be a bleaker journey 
in store for me: at all events, it behoves me to pre- 
pare. 

I once heard a devout and highly-esteemed min- 
ister of the gospel, preach a sermon, and an excel- 
lent sermon too, from the words, " Deliver them 
who, through fear of death, were all their life-time 
subject to bondage." Some time after, an accident 
occurred in which his life was placed in the most 
imminent peril ; and then I heard him declare from 
(he same pulpit in the most solemn manner, and 
with apparent heartfelt humility, that in that awful 



\ 

240 ON PREPARATION FOR WINTER. 

moment he found that he " was not ready," For 
thirty years and more, he had been warning others 
for death, and preparing them for its approach, but, 
for all that, he " was not ready." I rever- 
enced him the more for the humility of mind 
and integrity of spirit "with which he made the 
avowal. Since then he has been called to his heav- 
enly inheritance. I hope he was found ready, and 
that the lamp of God's sustaining promises burnt 
brightly in the dark valley through which he 
passed to the golden gates of the heavenly Jerusa- 
lem. But how is it with you and me? Let us 
ponder the question in our hearts. 

Careless as we may be in seasons of health, 
when it pleases God, in his providence, to take us, 
and shake us by sickness and affliction, we are as 
the deaf whose ears are unstopped, and as the blind 
whose eyes are suddenly opened. We hear sounds 
and we see signs that we have hitherto disregarded. 
The fading leaf and the withered flower, the fur- 
rowed brow and the grey hair tell us the same tale, 
and bid us prepare for our latter end. Then, every 
returning season, every opened grave, every Sab- 
bath bell, and every setting Sun, cries aloud to us, 
with a mighty voice, like the angel which stood 
upon " the sea and upon the earth, lifting up his 
hand to heaven, and swearing by Him that liveth 
for ever and ever, who created heaven and the things 
that therein are, and the sea and the things which 
are therein, that there should be time no longer." 



ON PREPARATION FOR WINTER. 241 

Could all the lessons of wisdom, and all the ad- 
monitions of time, be embodied in one sentence, it 
would be, ; - Prepare for eternity !" 

Many are there, who, at the approach of winter 
make preparations for banqueting and revelry, who 
are perfectly regardless of the uncertainty of life, 
and the certainty of dissolution. Where our next 
Christmas day may yet be spent we cannot tell ; it 
may be at the festive board, or it may be above the 
stars. Few indeed are there in this world who 
keep theix accounts so well balanced as to be ready 
to leave at a moment's warning. 

You and I should indulge in such considerations 
as these ; for it may be that our earthly pilgrimage 
may be drawing to a close — that the sands in our 
glasses may be few. Surely we have arrange- 
ments to make, debts to pay, injuries to forgive, 
friendships to acknowledge, and affections to mani- 
fest : and then, too, to make an entire surrender of 
ourselves, and all we possess, to the Father of mer- 
cies, beseeching him that, for Christ's sake, out 
sins may be blotted out, and that the fear of tem- 
poral death may be swallowed up in the confidence 
of eternal life. For the last time, again I say, 
Prepare ! 

THE END. 



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style of ministry as that of Mr. Caughey. We commend the 
views he presents to the earnest consideration of the ministry 
ttt large, agreeing fully with him that if there be one time 
more opportune than another for the publication of such a 
roluine as ' Methodism in Earnest,' it is the present time-"— ■ 
S. CL Advoo.nttK 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE M, E, CHURCH, SOUTH, 



THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER ; or, the Catechetical 
Office. By Thos. 0. Summers. 18mo, pp. 144. 
Price 30 cents. 

This work discusses the most interesting questions con- 
nected with the Catechetical System — the Teacher's Quali- 
fications. Difficulties, and Encouragements. It exhibits 
the obligations of pastors and teachers to the children ot 
the Church, and shows how they may be discharged. 

TALKS, PLEASANT AND PROFITABLE. By Thos. 0, 
Summers. 18mo, pp. 146. Price 30 cents. 

The topics of these dialogues are Orphans, May-Day, 
Birds, Temperance, Peter and the Tribute Money, Retribu- 
tion, Recognition of Friends in Heaven. The style is 
adapted to the minds of intelligent youth. The engravings 
are handsome. 

SEASONS, MONTHS, AND DAYS. By Thos. 0. Summers 
18mo, pp. 110. Price 25 cents. 

The design of this book is to make the reader acquainted 
with the origin and import of the names by which thfi 
seasons, months, and days are designated, including some 
of the historical, mythological, and poetical relations of 
the subject, and suggesting such moral reflections as may 
lead the contemplative mind through nature up to nature's 
God. The embellishments are beautiful and illustrative. 

OLD MICHAEL AND YOUNG MAURICE; or, Country 
Scenes in England. 18mo, pp. 178. Price 30 cent3 

A truthful, fascinating, and instructive volume. 

THE WORLD OE WATERS. By Fanny Osborne. With 
Illustrations. Two vols. 18mo, pp. 186, 224. Price 
60 cents. 

A couple of fascinating and instructive volumes. The 
tales and narratives beguile, like sailors' yarns, the voyage 
over the world of waters. The descriptions and anecdotes 
blend the charm of romance with the credibility of truth. 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE M. E, CHURCH, SOUTH, 

THE HEBREW MISSIONARY : Essays Exegetical ana 

Practical, on the Book of Jonah. By' the Rev 
Joseph Cross, D.D. 18mo, pp. 242. Price 35 cents 

This boo'k is a valuable contribution to our Church lite- 
rature — it exhibits great research, and abounds in eloquent 
passages and valuable reflections. The engravings and 
maps illustrative of Nineveh, as brought to light by Layard 
and others, add great interest to the work. 

A TREATISE ON SECRET AND SOCIAL PRAYER. 

By Richard Treffiry. 18mo, pp. 215. Price 35 cents. 

A very serviceable book. 

THE GREEK AND EASTERN CHURCHES : their His- 
tory, Faith, and Worship. 18mo, pp. 179. Price 
30 cents. 

We have never met with so much reliable information 
on the Oriental churches, in so short a compass, as is found 
in this neat volume. 

SCRIPTURE VIEWS OF THE HEAVENLY WORLD, 
By J. Edmondson, A.M. 18rno, pp. 249. Price 35 
cents. 

A neat edition of a book which takes rank with Baxter's 
Saint's Rest — to which great work it is in some respects 
superior. 

DIALOGUES ON POPERY, By Jacob Stanley. 18mo. 
pp. 264. Price 35 cents. 

A carefully revised and beautifully printed edition of an 
excellent book : it has had an extensive circulation both 
sides of the Atlantic. 

TRIAL OF THE WITNESSES OF THE RESURREC- 
TION OF CHRIST. By Bishop Sherlock. With 
an Introduction by Thos, 0. Summers, 18mo, pp. 
137. Price 30 cents. 

This masterly work is got up in convenient form and 
beautiful style. The introduction contains a brief bio- 
graphy of the illustrious author. 



PUBliCATlONS OF THE M. E, CHURCH, SOUTH, 



PROGRESS: CONSIDERED WITH PARTICULAR RE- 
FERENCE TO THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH. By the 

Rev. W. J. Sasnett, of Emory College, pp. 320. 
Price 80 cents. 

This is an elegantly printed 12ino volume, containing 
320 pages. The Advocates speak of it as a book of no com- 
mon interest. The Home Circle says : " The work is an 
earnest plea and practical plan for progress in the Method- 
ist Church; yet, with all our love of the old landmarks 
said prima facie opposition to any interference with them, 
we have not met with a sentiment or suggestion that we 
cannot endorse. We therefore express the earnest hope 
that the book may find immediate access to the entire 
Church. The sooner we all get our minds fully settled 
upon the matters of which it treats, the better; and its 
pages will greatly contribute to such settlement." 



AN APOLOGY FOR THE BIBLE. In a Series of Letters 
addressed to Thomas Paine, Author of the "Age of 
Reason." By Bishop Watson. 18mo, pp« 228, Price 
30 cents. 

A new and elegantly printed edition of this great Chris- 
tian classic. 



A REFUTATION OF THE THEOLOGICAL WORKS OF 
THOMAS PAINE, not noticed by Bishop Watson in 
his "Apology for the Bible." By Ihos. 0. Summers. 
18mo, pp, 84, Price 25 cents. 

The Memphis Christian Advocate speaks of this work as 
u seasonable" — in view of the revival of infidelity of the 
Thomas Paine type — and says, " The argument is terse 
and concise, but satisfactory." The author aimed at saying 
a great deal in a few words. The " Refutation" is beau- 
tifully gotten up. The "Apology" and " B,efutation" are 
also bound together, price 45 cents. 

DEFENCE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE M. E. 
CHURCH. By the Rev. J. L. Chapman, in his 
Debate with the Rev. J. E. Graves,, Canton, Miss,, 
May, 1855. Price 5 cents. 



PUBLICATIONS OF THE M. E. CHURCH. SOUTH, 



THE CHEAP SUNDAY- SCHOOL AND FAMILY LI- 
BRARY, No. 1. 

This Library contains one hundred select volumes, from 
12 to 252 pages, 18mo, substantially bound, with muslin 
backs ; each volume regularly numbered and ready for use. 

THE CHEAP SUNDAY-SCHOOL AND FAMILY LI 
BRARY, No. 2, 

Contains one hundred select volumes, from 72 t» 270 
pages, 18mo, substantially bound, with muslin backs ; each 
volume regularly numbered and ready for use. 



THE CHEAP SUNDAY-SCHOOL AND FAMILY LI- 
BRARY, No. 3. 

This Library contains one hundred select volumes, from 
72 to 287 pages, 18mo, substantially bound, with muslin 
backs ; each volume regularly numbered and ready for use. 

VERY CHEAP LIBRARY, 75 volumes for $5. 

THE CHILD'S CABINET LIBRARY, 

Containing seventy-five books bound in fifty volumes, 
32mo size, with morocco backs, lettered and numbered. 
Only $2.50 for the Library, being at the rate of five cents 
per volume. 



THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL VISITOR 

Will be published by STEVENSON & OWEN, Nash- 
ville, Tenn., on the first day of each month, upon the 
following terms : 

Single copies, 25 cents per year ; from 5 to 20 copies to 
one address, 23 cents ; from 20 to 50 copies, 20 cents ; from 
50 to 100 copies, 18 cents; 100 copies and over, 15 cents. 

All business letters should be addressed to Stevenson 
& Owen, Publishers; literary communications to L. D. 
Huston, Editor. 



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